Reboot Alberta

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Stelmach Shuffles the Cabinet but Does it Make a Difference?

So the Stelmach government Cabinet shuffle is over. Let’s take a look at the "new look" Cabinet. The media plays the winner- loser game on Cabinet shuffles and that is always “fun” except for the losers. I will not characterize the shifts in those terms but more in capacities and consequences for the Stelmach government and the potential for better or worse governance.


The Sad side:

The most notable exclusions from Cabinet are Janice Tarchuk and Fred Lindsay. We will never know the real reasons but the fact is they are not demoted they are delisted. Both are quiet people and questions of competence have enveloped them both. I know them both as good people and pass no judgment as to competency. That is the Premier’s job.

Also "delisted" is Doug Griffiths.  He is out of his role as Parliamentary Assistant. That is a serious political mistake at so many levels. I know Doug has been marginalized, as have most progressives in the Stelmach government. I am sure the Fiscal Four framing did not help Doug and the fact he actually speaks with some independent thought as an MLA. What is more (and worse from the leader’s brains trust perspective I am sure) Doug speaks his mind on his Blog and to a lesser extent, on Twitter. Griffith’s use of social media is an effective means of ensuring that “better communications” the Premier has been promising for about a year now, but has not yet achieved.

The Upside:

There are a couple of positive notes. I have to say I think Thomas Lukaszuk is one. He has grown over the years in politics and he has worked hard, especially at the constituency level. He is ready for Cabinet and I applaud the Premier for rewarding him but also for acknowledging his potential.

The fact that Snelgrove is still President of Treasury Board means Ted Morton has a “keeper” in his new Finance job. Snelgrove has been one of the most pleasant of surprises in the Cabinet from the Stelmach loyalists. He was a protégé of Steve West (comes from the same areas and riding) but Lloyd has none of that nastiness. He listens and sees all sides of issues and he can make hard decisions. But does so with reasons and takes the responsibility for the decisions too.

Having acknowledged “Political Ministers” in Edmonton and Calgary is a good thing too. Hancock and Redford in those roles are smart choices. Moving Jack Hayden into Agriculture and Rural Development makes him the de facto Political Minister for rural Alberta. That too is a very good choice and move. Jack is a rural development guy who gets agriculture. There is so much anger in Ag circles and even city-slickers like me hear about them. Jack has some work to do to fix that or the WAP will be eating PC s alive in the country come the next election.

The Downside:

The promotion of Ted Morton to Finance is not the downside that many may believe. I think he will surprise some folks in the effective execution of the budget's goals. The budget is done already.  Morton just gets to write and read the speech – this time. Not all of the surprises Morton will execute will be pleasant.  There is a move to “crack down” on social services budget expenses in health, education, vulnerable Albertans like children, seniors and PDD folks. That is all political more than fiscal, just like even more tax concessions, cash incentives and royalty giveaways to the oil patch are political...all in service of the perpetual push by Stelmach to buy some political love in Calgary.

And besides the current Budget is done and the deficit will have magically all but disappeared by the time the next Quarter “disclosure” comes due. Oil is up and gas has been over $5 for about five months now. Next time, the Budget for 2011-12, going into the red zone for the next election is a different story. Till the fiscal hawk still have sharp talons to cut and kill programs in the lead up to an election? Nope!

The downside is that this Cabinet is all about fixing the screw ups and papering over political problems. It is not about vision or striving or even sacrifice. There is no attempt to show fiscal sacrifice by amalgamating departments to reduce the size of Cabinet. They want the not-for-profit sector to become smaller and do more with less. They could have shown leadership if they were serious and sincere about the reasons and reduced the size of Cabinet. It still sits at 24 and was at 18 when Stelmach became Premier.

Here and the fixes and the wallpaper over the cracks. Liepert is in Energy and out of Health. The energy sector has direct access to the Premier whenever they wish. They will not go through Liepert nor will they trust him to be their guy at Cabinet. The patch will do its own lobbying directly to the powers that be. And if they want political attention from a recalcitrant Premier, they will call Danielle – not Ron.

Mel Knight in SRD means the Land Use Framework is losing steam. Morton took is as far as he could and had lost interest near the end. Knight is an energy guy not a forest and fauna guy and will not be able to take on reconciling the pending political battle between Quad owners and conservationists, never mind the real complex stuff that needs real attention like the mountain pine beetle’s capability for total destruction of the boreal forest. If ever a department could not afford a holding pattern – they are SRD and Environment…I will get to the latter department later.

The Ho-Hum Side:

The Morton and Denis Cabinet appointments are appeasements of the far right and to stop more floor crossings. No comments from me about competence in either case, I am sure they are. Just an interesting development that says more about the continuing fear the PCs have about the rise of the Wildrose Alliance. They are missing the reaction of that larger segment of the population, like those angry and frustrated citizens who showed up at the Whitemud Citizen’s Forum on Health Care earlier this week and gave Dave Hancock a piece of their minds.

The Cabinet seat merry-go-round of Goudreau from Employment to Municipal Affairs is a fix-a-problem shift. Danyluk had angered both the AUMA and AAMDC to the point where they were working jointly on advocacy issues, he had to be moved. Fritz to Children and Youth Services is a fix the Tarchuk problem not a solution to the Children’s Services problem. Hayden to Ag and Rural Development is a fix the Groenveld problem because he was as unpopular on the farm as Danyluk was in the towns and counties. Zwozdesky to Health is a fix the Liepert problem but will it deal with the problems in healthcare? These changes seem more like musical chairs than anything else. Guess we need to see the Mandate Letters, the Budget and Business Cases to see if there is any focus on fixing the real problems and not just the political perceptions.

Nine Ministers stay put and that is not a bad thing so far as Renner, Horner, Hancock and Snelgrove are concerned. There will be those who speculate that Horner as Deputy Premier is a signal that he is Stelmach’s choice to succeed him. It is way too soon to even suggest something like that. Even if it were true, it offers no upside advantage to Horner in his pursuit of that goal, presuming he aspires to be the next Premier.

The big downside is that the Shuffle is its utter insignificance. It offers no new energy, no new vision nor sense of a focused sense of a new direction. It says nothing to mark a place in time that we can look back on and say – that was when the fortunes of the PC Party turned around and got back on track. Harry Strom and Don Getty didn’t do it and Ed Stelmach hasn’t done it now either. With two years left in the mandate, he will not get a second chance at showing us some inspired real change…at least not with another Cabinet shuffle. If there is a next time for another Cabinet before the next election, the PCs would only look desperate, weak and afraid of the WAP.

18 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:48 pm

    How is Denis an appeasement for the far right? Enlightened Savage always calls him "that red tory"...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like Jonathan - but he was a strong advocate of Bill #44 and isn't he one of the Fiscal Four? Would love to be corrected by or about Jonathan and discover he is a progressive. I would trust the Enlightened Savage's judgement.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous6:03 pm

    Denis is anything but a "Red Tory" if you knew him well you would know the ES jokes by calling him a Red Tory.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous6:32 pm

    Denis isn't a true social conservative like Rob Anderson - Anderson has 4 kids, Denis isn't even married and has no kids. What kind of a conservative can he be?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous7:05 pm

    Interesting analysis. I so agree that it has done nothing of significance, which I understand is hard to do when there is no vision.
    I do take exception to your analysis of Lukaszuk. He may be a hard worker and and an intelligent man, however he has demonstrated a mean and vindictive streak, particularly in committee meetings. His contributions often do nothing more than demean and belittle eg - Legislative Officers. see http://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files/docs/committees/lo/legislature_27/session_2/20090213_1200_01_lo.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous8:09 pm

    What do you make of the new positions of Minister Liaison to the Canadian Armed Forces (Horner), Political Minister for Edmonton (Hancock) and Political Minister for Calgary (Redford)? Are the latter two equivalent to the old Edmonton and Calgary caucus chairs? If so, why retitle them?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Doug Griffiths would be a great addition to Reboot 2.0.

    How about a formal invitation?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anon @ 6:32 - what has procreation got to do with being a conservative?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well Mr Lukaszuk does qualify some of his claims with a "maybe" or two:
    "Now, maybe, just maybe, my understanding of [a topic] is a little bit better than average, and I knew that their answers were not correct."

    ReplyDelete
  10. Robert Gerard10:38 am

    Can't believe you reduced Zwoz's move to Health to a single brief mention. Gene is a peacemaker if nothing else. He went into Education after the thuggish reign of Oberg and did a bang-up job. If he can get not-really-a-doctor Duckett under control, it may not be too late to resolve the political management crisis in health care. However, since Don Mazankowski -- of health-insurance giant Great West Life -- is still Eddie the Unready's greatest mentor, the ideological destruction of our provincial health care system may continue unabated. But Gene is definitely worth more than a passing reference.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous10:38 am

    Agreed with anonymous on his assessment of Lukaszuk as having a mean and vindictive streak. He's also a know-it-all who always tries to have the last word, since he believes he is the smartest person in any room. Watch his performance in committee meetings for a while and you will see what I mean.

    AS to hard-working, I agree that he has worked hard to get himself a cabinet post (making himself a media darling/go-to guy; proposing legislation to protect Ed's interests, etc.). I've heard rumours that he is not quite the hard worker on external committees as he'd like people to believe, and his attendance record at Leg. committees might bear some scrutiny. Even when he shows up, he arrives late and leaves early.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous11:50 am

    I'll never forget Fred Lindsay's comment when he answered a question about what his most memorable moment in politics was. He said "I survived" How inspiring is that.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous12:40 pm

    anon@8:09

    There are still caucus chairs for Edmonton and Calgary, Art Johnston is Calgary's Chair, not sure who chairs Edmontons though. I think the title of political minister is just to show that they are the "senior minister" in Cal/Edm.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous12:56 pm

    As a politically uninspired, 4th generation, Albertan, you've lit my fire, Ken Chapman. I will commit to make 2010 the year I become 'engaged' in the city and province around me. Thank-you! Kerrie L. in Edmonton

    ReplyDelete
  15. So Kerrie come to Reboot Alberta 2.0 and bring some friends. Feb 26-28 in Kcountry - check it out at www.rebootalberta.org.

    It is place for a deeper inspriation with like-minded progressives.

    Glad you are dusting off your citizenship

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous12:01 am

    I have lived in Lukaszuk's constituency my entire life, and have yet to notice any of his constituency work that you speak of. Or even his presence (unless it's at an event where he can get media publicity or around election time).

    I also think that Zwozdesky, if given leeway to make the decisions he wants to make, will improve things quite a bit.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous8:12 am

    Mr. Chapman, in reference to your comment that the AUMA and AAMDC are participating in joint advocacy because they are so angered at Minister Danyluk; please note that the AAMDC and the AUMA are participating jointly in advocacy on issues of mutual interest because their respective boards chose to show leadership to their members. This progressive initiative was both supported and encouraged by Minister Danyluk and the government.

    Don Johnson, President
    AAMDC

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thanks for the clarifying comment Don. I think the joint efforts by AUMA and AAMDC is a great move forward for both organiztions and the provicne too. I know also that there has been competition in the past for attention and understnading from provincial policy makers. Joint efforts were possible make so much good sense. I did an earlier blog post applauding this effort by both organizations

    ReplyDelete

Anonymous comments are discouraged. If you have something to say, the rest of us have to know who you are