Key Cabinet Appointments

[NAB]

Another one who might be planning a graceful exit and not run in the next election could be Ralph Sultan. Not that he is really Cabinet material anyway. And he's been rather quiet through all this. I think his days of screaming that the socialist hordes are at the gates of Victoria might be pretty much over.

Nab

[Al Czervic]

I was listening to the speculation from Vaughn Palmer and Keith Baldrey on Bill Good's show earlier and I'm thinking that the following is likely to happen:

1. Blair Lekstrom comes back into cabinet.

2. Krueger from Kamloops exits cabinet while Lake from Kamloops enters cabinet.

3. Clark will find out who isn't running in the next election and some current cabinet members (Colin Hansen perhaps) will be able to exit cabinet gracefully. If Clark informs them they're not in cabinet they may make the decision at that point not to run of course.

4. Both Palmer and Baldrey suggested that Clark should set up the structure of cabinet and then leave it alone. Gordon Campbell kept fiddling with the organization of cabinet and they both hope that Clark doesn't do that.

By the way, when Keith Baldrey speculated a few days ago about Krueger leaving cabinet he received an email from Krueger asking how he (Baldrey) could be so stupid.

I agree ! More so with the part to punt Krueger from cabinet.

[NAB]

You still haven't answered my earlier question as to me not knowing much about Krueger Al, and what the axe is you have to grind with him. I just got the impression you didn't like him very much.

Nab

[Al Czervic]

It’s not so much an axe as it is my objection Kruger’s constant barrage of opening his mouth with typically poorly thought out comments, no different in this case of telling Keith Baldrey he is stupid. Kruegers recent letter ripping Province columnist Michael Smyth was even far more over the top no different than his constant bickering at others when in the house. I mostly find the guy lacks class…not to mention he also recently suggested that an NDP MLA should have his “head shot off” it was an expression of course but a poorly chosen one on the part of Krueger.

[NAB]

The house cleaning in BC is well under way, starting at the top rather than the bottom, ....but there's no shortage of further candidates at the MLA pork barrel yet it appears, on all sides. And Palmer and Baldrey could do us all a service once this segment is over and start speculating about the next level of deeper housecleaning in the senior bureaucracy,various appointed bodies and Boards, (and their CEO's) like Elections BC, ICBC, BC Ferries, BC Investment Corp, and of course BC Hydro. BC Ferries' Hahn has already announced he is moving on but there are still lots of vacancies to produce over there I suspect. Man, this is like catching schooled fish in a barrel LOL once the rods and nets come out. This whole network of Campbell Liberals Clan insiders has to be dismantled and sent packing. Just cutting off a few of the heads won't do it. The entire "old boys and girls club" has to be routed out and shut down. Finding and exposing to the light of day all those closet skeletons and "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" relationships should be a lot of fun LOL.

On the bright side, just think of all the new (and suitably lower paid) employment opportunities we could create!!!! ;=) Of course finding enough new, competent, unrelated, and uncorrupted people with a solid set of moral and work ethics won't be easy.
Nab

Opinion: Christy Clark’s keeping quiet, and that’s got the rumour mill working overtime
Whispers in the capital will die down when new premier and team take over

By Vaughn Palmer, Vancouver Sun March 11, 2011 11:08 PM

VICTORIA -- Premier-designate Christy Clark and her team spent much of the week in guarded planning for transition, saying little publicly and letting the capital thrive on rumours within rumours. A sampler:

1. A ministerial exodus. Names appearing on most lists (except their own) included such Gordon Campbell-era ministers as Kevin Krueger, Randy Hawes and Iain Black. But those weren’t enough to create the necessary half dozen or so vacancies for newcomers and a smaller cabinet lineup, which led to speculation about another possibility:

2. Ministerial retirements. “You could drop a person if they’ve indicated they aren’t running,” explained political consultant and Clark supporter Brad Zubyk. “Because ideally — whether the election’s in the fall or in two years’ time — you want to make sure you have people in senior positions, getting that profile, that are going to be there.”

Was the premier-designate asking MLAs and ministers if they plan to run again? “Those are discussions I have with caucus members,” she told reporters, “and those are private.”

Hmm. The most common names on the rumoured-to-be-thinking of retirement list were Colin Hansen, Rich Coleman, Murray Coell and Shirley Bond.

3. A byelection call for Vancouver-Point Grey as early as Tuesday. Though Clark does not need a seat in the legislature to be sworn in as premier, she’d probably want to obtain one in fairly short order if the legislature is to be recalled to pass the budget and to bring forward the date for the referendum on the harmonized sales tax. If Campbell were to resign his Point Grey seat at the same time as the premiership, Clark could call a byelection to fill the vacancy straightaway.

But that rumour ran counter to a concern that Clark would have her hands full on other matters. “The premier has got a lot on her plate, from continuing to make changes in the public service and political staff, working with her new cabinet, piecing together an agenda,” Zubyk told me during an interview on Voice of B.C. on Shaw TV on Thursday. “If anybody thinks she’s going engage in a byelection in the next two or three weeks, it’s not going to happen.”

4. A mail-in ballot for the referendum on the HST. The option is a money-saver, the cost being estimated at $5 million as opposed to $30 million for the full-blown balloting at polling stations version. Clark didn’t rule the option in or out. “We haven’t had that discussion yet with our caucus and our cabinet, “ she told reporters when asked about mechanisms for the HST vote. “When we have a decision, we’ll let you know.”

5. Harry Bloy’s reward. As the only member of the B.C. Liberal caucus to support Clark for the leadership, Bloy inspired a spate of rumours about how he might be compensated for perspicacity.

Pressed to speculate on his own behalf, Bloy wisely chose to say as little as possible. “I picked Christy because I thought she could win. We had no deal. I didn’t ask for anything.”

Still, a junior cabinet post dealing with trade or the Asia-Pacific is one possibility, Bloy having served as government liaison to the Korean community.

But he has for six years chaired the budget debates in the legislature, a position that comes with both a title (deputy chair of the committee of the whole) and a salary stipend of $20,000 atop the MLA base pay of about $100,000.

On the assumption that the unassuming Bloy would prefer to stick to legislative duties, he could be elevated to deputy speaker, which comes with a stipend of $36,000. This presuming the current occupant of that post, Linda Reid, were slotted into cabinet.

6. Other newcomers at the cabinet table. By common consensus, the best bets to gain cabinet rank were Kamloops MLA Terry Lake and Don McRae, who represents Comox Valley. Coquitlam’s Doug Horne and Surrey’s Gordon Hogg were on some lists as well. Plus the four ministers who quit cabinet to seek the party leadership will almost certainly return to the table, along with caucus returnee Blair Lekstrom.

7. Pamela Martin? The ex-broadcaster and Clark supporter did a brief turn through the rumour mill following an email from a source other than herself that asked if there were any precedent for a minister to serve in cabinet without a seat in the house.

Yes. The most recent example being Ed John, the first nations leader who served for six months as a minister without a seat in the last New Democratic Party government. But the New Democrats were in a hopeless position by that point. And while Martin, having caught the political bug, is likely to run in the next general election, Clark would do her politically inexperienced friend no favours by elevating her prematurely to cabinet rank.

Enough of the hypothetical already. The premier-designate is scheduled to take the wraps off the real thing, starting at 1 p.m. Monday at Government House. Then she and her chosen team can begin the hard work of living up to all those expectations they’ve raised about change, openness, transparency and putting families first

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Opinio ... z1GNnhXC4W

[Al Czervic]

Christy Clark has huge challenges in creating her first cabinet. She will need to “re-jig” it (as all Premier’s do) in order to put her own “stamp” on it and of course she also needs to put her own face on it and put people into the cabinet that she believes can advance her agenda. Naturally she must also factor in the need for party unity, regionalism, ageism, sexism, and ALL of those other factors you get criticized for when you make up your cabinet. I see it as a fairly monumental challenge and let’s not forget she also has to avoid doing what Campbell did as well. A few of my hopes and predictions in random order…

A smaller cabinet

New Finance Minister (Falcon already said he did not want this job)

Lekstrom likely in new cabinet, much like Harry Bloy as well.

Krueger, Murray Coell, John Yap, Ian Black, Randy Hawes are a few I would like to see flushed out of the current cabinet.

Steve Thompson, Barry Penner, George Abbott, Kevin Falcon, Ida Chong, Shirly Bond, Rich Coleman, Mike DeJong, Stephaine Cadieux, Maragter McDiarmid, Mary Polak, Moira Stillwell and Terry Lake I predict will ALL remain in the new cabinet.

Wild cards are John Les, Ben Stewart, Pat Bell, and a few others who’s name currently escapes me.

I left out Colin Hansen only because I think he may retire sooner then later....

I think I did pretty good....

a) cabinet is smaller

b) we do have a new finance minister

c) Lekstrom and Bloy both IN the new cabinet...

d) Krueger, Murray Coell, John Yap, Ian Black, Randy Hawes all OUT (as I had hoped)

e)Steve Thompson, Barry Penner, George Abbott, Kevin Falcon, Ida Chong, Shirly Bond, Rich Coleman, Mike DeJong, Stephaine Cadieux, Maragter McDiarmid, Mary Polak, and Terry Lake ALL IN. I missed on Stillwell only...she is out..

f) Wild cards were wild cards only Pat Bell got in on my wild card list

g) I left out Colin Hansen and Colin Hansen WAS left out of cabinet. Now we will see if my thoughts on his retirement are true as well...

[Urbane]

Once again, you pretty well nailed it Al.

[NAB]

I'm really impressed with Christy's Cabinet choices (even that she kept Kevin Falcon LOL, which I was against, but at least moved him onto a portfolio (Finance) where he is going to have to take some responsibility for other folks dollars, not just his own. Plus, he just may have the bells necessary to deal strongly with some of the Finance Dept's bureaucracy books cookers).

I'm a bit surprised she kept de Jong around, and particularly in Health. Somehow that doesn't make sense but maybe it will as we move on.

Other than that, I am REALLY happy to see the incompetent #2 HST mouthpiece Hansen gone. Perhaps now we can have some intelligent dialogue on the issue. The recall effort has done its job well IMO.

Edit to add: I thought I heard a report on the radio that there were no Ministers at all appointed who represented Surrey, or was it Richmond?

Nab

[Glacier]

A friend of mine grew up with Kruger's daughter. This friend said that the kids at school thought Kevin Kruger was a jerk because he would make his daughter wear campaign shirts to school, which of course, lead to her getting severely picked on until she cried. Although, my friend and his family are NDPers, so I throw it out there with a grain of salt.

[Al Czervic]

What I like about Christy Clark’s new cabinet….

Obviously being smaller and the elimination of Minister’s of State are two huge positives from my perspective. I also like that they she cleared out a good amount of dead wood and got rid of old school politician’s who had long overstayed their welcome. On the whole I was fairly happy with who was in cabinet and who was left out, about the only major disagreement I would have is that I would preferred to see Moira Stillwell stay in the cabinet.

Of the actual cabinet posting I like Falcon for Finance and I was always supportive of Abbott for Education although Abbott clearly needs to get over his bitterness for losing out. The vast majority of the choices I am generally satisfied with although I do have some areas for concern and a few disagreements. I do not know what to make for Mike DeJong in Healthcare I suppose wait and see comes to mind. I would have preferred that Lekstrom be given the Energy and Mines portfolio – this activity occurs in his riding….instead he get’s transportation where major issues like Translink and BC Ferries are a long ways away from his riding and meanwhile we have Rich Coleman who has Energy and Mines where the resource sector is a long ways away from his riding. That just doesn’t make sense to me.

Shirley Bond for Solicitor General just seems like a joke. We need someone strong who can stand up and take on the issue of the RCMP head on…..Shirley Bond was crushed by the BCTF when she was the Minister of Education so I can’t see her being much more effective as the Sol.Gen either. Although Harry Bloy is getting criticized for getting welfare he strikes me as a kind hearted person who may show some compassion. The fact that he is not a textbook media manager is not something I see as a bad thing.

Wisest moves ? Clearly Mark Polak and the Children’s Rep. were at war with each other so good on Christy Clark to move Polak into a Ministry where she can instead battle people like Grand Chief Stewart Philip who all about picking fights and finding someone new to run the Ministry of Children’s and Families where children need to come first. I also really liked her firing of Martyn Brown, who had been Campbell’s henchmen for many years before Campbell tried to parachute Brown into the civil service as a golden parachute. Good on Clark for firing his *bleep* out the door.

Dumbest move. Moira Stillwell is out of cabinet while Shirley Bond is the Sol.Gen. You end up with brains and talent sitting on the sideline while you have a B team member in over her head against the boys in blue. Dumb.

[NAB]

Perhaps it's just a matter of Moira Stillwell not wanting the Health Ministry. As I said before, I am amazed at de Jong being slotted into that spot, so perhaps it was just a case of having a hole to fill and he lucked out on the draw.

Alternatively, putting her in that slot may have led to too much opportunity for bias and conflict of interest (real or perceived). And she is a specialized person - I cannot see her being much interested in any other cabinet post. I think she ran for the leadership just to get a message out rather than ever being a serious contender for the job.

Do we have a full list of the Parliamentary Secretaries yet? beyond that I would like to see a full list of who is left warming the back benches. Picking around in that group may expose those not likely to be candidates in the next election. I've already speculated that Ralph Sultan may be down to his last days.

Nab

[flamingfingers]

Most notably, Moira Stilwell is gone. She ran a no-hope leadership campaign, but acquitted herself well and was expected to return to cabinet.

Her departure generated the most buzz because it was rumoured to be an unhappy one. She was offered a position as a parliamentary secretary, expressed some disappointment about it and hung up on the premier.

But she did take the job. Going from cabinet to a parliamentary secretary post is like a PGA golfer becoming a caddy.

Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Leyne ... z1GhAM2Bdu

[NAB]

Clark Sails Tighter Boat
Praise for Hanson, but no cabinet post
Last Updated: Tuesday, March 15th, 2011 | 7:18am PDT Story by: Doug Collins

It'll be a tighter ship for Premier Christy Clark, who's taken her role as the province's new captain and named who else will be aboard.
The 18-member cabinet, five portfolios down, puts Kevin Falcon at the finance minister helm and sends Colin Hansen entirely out to sea.
At her swearing-in ceremony yesterday, Clark said among her top orders of business will be selling the H-S-T plank to the public, who will vote on it in a referendum.
The gap she has yet to fill is her own unelected status _ while she's mused on running in Gordon Campbell's riding, she hasn't yet declared her intentions. As far as Hansen is concerned, she says Hansen will have to comment on his situation, but she says there's noone more enthusiastic about getting the Liberals re-elected than Colin Hansen.


http://cfjctv.com/story.php?id=1737

[NAB]

Cabinet moves make it even harder for Christy Clark to unite caucus

When you’re a new Canadian Premier who won a party leadership with almost no support from within the existing government caucus, your first cabinet is as much about politics as talent.
And B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s new 18-member executive council is certainly that. But by deciding to go with a smaller group, reducing the number of ministers around the table by five from the previous administration, Ms. Clark made the job of keeping her caucus happy and united even harder.

The fact that she dumped two incredibly brainy women from cabinet, and kept or promoted other, less accomplished politicians, will also have many questioning the criteria that was used to make some of the selections. But certainly Moira Stilwell and Margaret MacDiarmid, both acclaimed physicians who were sought-after candidates for the Liberals, deserved a better fate than what they got in this cabinet shuffle.

Instead, both women were named parliamentary secretaries.

Who knows what Ms. Clark has against them? When asked about Dr. Stilwell, who most expected to receive a major portfolio, the Premier said she was a victim of “tough choices.” But the good news, said the Premier, is that parliamentary secretaries will be expected to play a more significant role in her government.

Back in 2004, Ms. Clark, then a high-profile education minister in Gordon Campbell’s government, was furious when the then-premier asked her to serve as children and family services minister. It’s a ministry with a reputation as a career killer and Ms. Clark wanted no part of it. Mr. Campbell forced her to take it anyway and she quit six months later.

Given this historical context, perhaps the new Premier can try to extend a little knowing sympathy to those who have been demoted or booted out of cabinet entirely.

What’s equally perplexing is that the Premier kept Mary Polak in cabinet, a minister Ms. Clark once eviscerated on radio for the inept job she felt she was doing in the same Children and Family Services Ministry she once wanted no part of. In this shuffle, the Premier moved Ms. Polak to aboriginal relations, signalling a major downgrade of the importance of that ministry in a Clark government.


.....this is where politics comes into things.
The B.C. Liberal Party is a coalition of federal Liberals and Conservatives. Ms. Clark represents the Liberal wing of the party. Kevin Falcon, her chief rival for the leadership, represents the Conservative side.

It was little surprise then that Ms. Clark made Mr. Falcon Finance Minister and Deputy Premier. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, as they say. By my count there are at least six members of the cabinet who represent the Conservative base of the party, including Ms. Polak, who was a Falcon supporter during the leadership.

Still, having Mr. Falcon in a solid power position inside cabinet may not be enough to quell the rumblings of unhappiness being detected inside caucus. There are people such as former solicitor-general John van Dongen, who supported George Abbott for leader, who told anyone he could during the campaign Ms. Clark was unfit to govern.

There is also lingering resentment over the nature of Ms. Clark’s leadership run. That would be the fact she left government when she didn’t get her way, only to return when the top job was available. And because she was in radio while many of her former colleagues were fighting it out in the political trenches, she was untainted by unpopular policies such as the HST.

Others are also not thrilled that Blair Lekstrom was promoted to cabinet on Monday. While a popular MLA, Mr. Lekstrom left the Liberal caucus last year because of differences he had with the government over the way the HST was rolled out and being implemented. While on the outside, he was quite vocal in his criticisms of Mr. Campbell and the government.

Now Mr. Lekstrom’s in cabinet while many of the loyalists who stayed around and took the heat over the HST were overlooked or turfed.

There are always some hard feelings after a cabinet shuffle because there are inevitably winners and losers. But those feelings seem to be exacerbated in this case because of the special circumstances surrounding Ms. Clark’s victory.

Whether they develop into something more serious for the new Premier will be worth monitoring.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... le1942147/

[Glacier]

I would have preferred that Lekstrom be given the Energy and Mines portfolio – this activity occurs in his riding….instead he get’s transportation where major issues like Translink and BC Ferries are a long ways away from his riding ..

I actually like this appointment because I think (or hope) that someone from northern or rural BC will better understand our transportation needs. For example, the government is spending billions to upgrade highway 97 to 4 lanes from Cache Creek to Prince George, which is all well and good, except it doesn't actually get rid of those deadly head-ons or speed up traffic. Instead of adding more traffic lights and slowing traffic by adding an lane to each side of the existing road, they should simply twin the road like they do elsewhere. I'd hope that someone from the North would better understand this. But then again if he hasn't travelled by road outside of BC, maybe not...