Succession planning
Two posts down, Bobcaygeon raises the point: After Martin gets unceremoniously dumped after Janaury 23, who is the next Liberal leader going to be? As he says, John Manley looks to be an obvious choice, but the party has an unwritten rule whereby they alternate between French Canadian and English Canadian leaders. If they were to stick to that, who would come forward from Quebec?
Cauchon? Please.
Coderre? No way.
Garneau? Maybe.
Given the bench strength in Quebec is so weak, could a Chretien comeback be in the offing?
On the non-Quebec side, in addition to Manley, there's Ignatieff, Volpe, Brison, and Bob Rae. Lesser lights such as Maurizio Bevilacqua would also contend, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a vanity candidacy from Stronach, either.
Thoughts?
posted by Road Hammer @ 10:44 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
On Liberal leadership, Bob Rae would be the best choice, but the Liberal Party rarely makes good choices. Rae won't run if Ignatieff does, but would Ignatieff really run after his rough ride already? This must have taken the shine of political life.
As for the cabinet, don't forget Rusty Baird and Garth Turner. He'll need as much experience as he can get in that first cabinet.
Industry would go to Garth Turner, if he wins.
House Leader to Jay Hill, unless he gets Ag.
Kenney would get something like Revenue or a secretary of state position. He could also get House leader if Hill goes to Ag.
Fish to Loyola Hearn.
Public Works to Cutler, if he wins.
Health to Clement, if he wins.
Indian Affairs to Prentice.
Environment to Bob Mills (?).
Sheesh, it's hard to build a Tory Cabinet without overrepresentation from Alta, isn't it?
Other thoughts:
Heritage would go to Bev Oda.
Status of Women to Helena Guergis.
Treasury Board could go to Cutler, too.
They could also put Day at International Trade and then install someone with a little more gravitas at Foreign Affairs.
Other MPs to watch for posts of some sort or another include Gary Lunn, James Rajotte, John Williams and Greg Thompson. I would also expect that Harper would shore up QC representation in Cabinet by appointing a couple of Senators like Pierre Claude Nolin.
John Williams isn't running this time.
SH has a history of rewarding loyalty over gravitas, so I would check some of those predictions.
Look for Greg Thompson to be in, only Fed PC to back him. Also look for Diane Finlay, Gordon O'Conner, and James Rajotte.
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