cybercoma Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Somewhere along the way Trudeau promised to make half his cabinet have balls. Go figure. With the experience and skill of the women he has on his team, this may actually be closer to the truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argus Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 (edited) Leslie's transformation study indicated that it would gut upwards of 1/4 of DND employees in the Ottawa region.......I'm to assume some live in Leslie's riding. PSAC and DND also feared his recommendation to disband the RCN's FMFs on both coasts, opting to go to contractors.......which would have knee-capped the RCN's ability to conduct routine maintenance on the fleet. Good. Best thing which could happen to a grossly top-heavy organization with, the last time I looked, more HR specialists than infantry soldiers. In June 2010, General Leslie was replaced as Chief of Land Staff by Lieutenant-General Peter Devlin[12] and was named Chief of Transformation for the Canadian Forces.[13] In this position, Leslie was responsible for releasing the 2011 Report on Transformation, which, among other changes, recommended scaling back the Primary Reserves to boost the Regular Forces and significantly cutting headquarters' budgets and transferring the amounts to front line combat units.[14] Leslie referred to this as transforming the Forces into "more tooth and less tail," a phrase that was used by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay. Some saw Leslie's report as recommending to sacrifice too many sacred cows, namely the bloated headquarters organizations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Leslie_%28general%29 Edited November 4, 2015 by Argus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argus Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Would you care to explain why Harper was so keen to keep him out of the CDF position, Dunno, maybe cuz he was a liberal. Why was Sajjan put in charge of a reserve unit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallc Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Dunno, maybe cuz he was a liberal. He was never an obvious choice for anything. He was a star candidate. Trudeau had many, including the current MND. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 And including Bill Blair, whom I don't see Argus complaining about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeferMadness Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Somewhere along the way Trudeau promised to make half his cabinet have balls. Go figure. Technically, it's half plus 1 when you include Trudeau. Or is one of the guys missing his equipment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC_chick Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 I'm happy to see Harper gone and I'm very happy to see such a talented cabinet, and today is a great day in Canadian history. But.... Morneau for finance minister is just too questionable for my liking. I know I'm being cynical here, but I don't see this going well unless he gives up his stakes in Morneau Shepell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToadBrother Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 I'm happy to see Harper gone and I'm very happy to see such a talented cabinet, and today is a great day in Canadian history. But.... Morneau for finance minister is just too questionable for my liking. I know I'm being cynical here, but I don't see this going well unless he gives up his stakes in Morneau Shepell. My understanding is that he will be required to put his interests in a blind trust. I think you'd be rather hard pressed to find a suitable finance minister who didn't have some significant stakes in some going concern or another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeferMadness Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 I'm happy to see Harper gone and I'm very happy to see such a talented cabinet, and today is a great day in Canadian history. But.... Morneau for finance minister is just too questionable for my liking. I know I'm being cynical here, but I don't see this going well unless he gives up his stakes in Morneau Shepell. If you're going to insist on a Finance Minister who has no outside interests, the talent pool will get pretty shallow. I think this is for the Ethics Commissioner to ensure that the blind trust is truly blind and that Morneau can't influence decisions with respect to the company. And you can't just look at Morneau, how about all of the other ministers who will have financial interests in all sorts of things? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capricorn Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 My understanding is that he will be required to put his interests in a blind trust. I think you'd be rather hard pressed to find a suitable finance minister who didn't have some significant stakes in some going concern or another. Finance Minister Morneau's success in private life bodes well in terms of how he will perform in his portfolio. I wish him all the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC_chick Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 He's also a rookie. It's a pretty important position to give to a rookie during a recession. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToadBrother Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 He's also a rookie. It's a pretty important position to give to a rookie during a recession. I'm sure his senior staff will coach him through the difficulties. His previous career indicates he understands the essentials. I think it's a pretty good fit, and really, considering that the vast bulk of the Liberal caucus is new faces, the Finance portfolio was almost certainly going to go to a rookie MP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC_chick Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 I'm sure his senior staff will coach him through the difficulties. His previous career indicates he understands the essentials. I think it's a pretty good fit, and really, considering that the vast bulk of the Liberal caucus is new faces, the Finance portfolio was almost certainly going to go to a rookie MP. I respect your opinions. Thanks for the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Squid Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Morneau isn't a surprising choice given his education and background. He certainly has much more business experience than Flaherty or PM Harper... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToadBrother Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 I respect your opinions. Thanks for the input. The current Liberal caucus really is a unique situation that I don't think has been duplicated in recent Canadian history. Since no party has gone from being a third party of less than 40 seats to quintupling its seat count and winning a majority, it's created completely unique challenges for Trudeau, but also an astonishing diversity and depth of talented, if admittedly rookie MPs. The Liberal caucus really is an embarrassment of riches that we're not likely to see in a governing caucus again for decades to come. I think we also know that some of the faces there won't make it four years. Some ministers will not do as well (let's hope none in the key positions), and Trudeau will doubtless be looking at the list of second ranks towards the middle of his term. But for now, all in all, I'm actually very impressed with this new cabinet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeferMadness Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 So, I find some of the cabinet chair appointments a bit odd. The Cabinet Committee on Inclusive Growth, Opportunities and Innovation is chaired by the Minister of Health. The Cabinet Committee on Open and Transparent Government (the first line of whose mandate is "Considers issues concerning the reform of democratic institutions and processes) is chaired by the Minister of Public Services and Procurement. And the Cabinet Committee on Environment, Climate Change and Energy is chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and co-chaired by the Minister of International Trade. Is this a way of ensuring that rookie cabinet ministers in some key portfolios stay on track? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToadBrother Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 (edited) Is this a way of ensuring that rookie cabinet ministers in some key portfolios stay on track? Yes. He's called the Prime Minister. More expansively it's the rest of Cabinet. Cabinet isn't supposed to be a pack of isolated managers anymore than it's supposed to be a pack of impotent nabobs. There are people like Goodale and Dion who are experienced Ministers who will be able to guide and measure their rookie colleagues. Edited November 4, 2015 by ToadBrother Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC_chick Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Morneau isn't a surprising choice given his education and background. He certainly has much more business experience than Flaherty or PM Harper... I know, I know... and he made a school for refugees kids in Africa so he 'must' be a nice guy... But I just have a hard time believing such a Bay Street guy has the best interest of all Canadians in mind. Hopefully that's just me being a cynic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallc Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 But I just have a hard time believing such a Bay Street guy has the best interest of all Canadians in mind. Why the negative stereotype of people involved in business? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC_chick Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 (edited) Why the negative stereotype of people involved in business? Because of my experiences working in finance. Even the nicest of them are still sharks to a level. Edited November 4, 2015 by BC_chick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallc Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Because of my experiences working in finance. Even the nicest of them are still sharks to a level. Well that describes me, really. I'm here to make money, and I do a bit better at that every year. I'm still a caring compassionate person outside of that though, and even give up money for such causes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC_chick Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Well that describes me, really. I'm here to make money, and I do a bit better at that every year. I'm still a caring compassionate person outside of that though, and even give up money for such causes. I've worked as an independent contractor for lots of companies, big and small. I'm privy to information that is not always disclosed. I'm jaded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToadBrother Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 I've worked as an independent contractor for lots of companies, big and small. I'm privy to information that is not always disclosed. I'm jaded. If Bill Moreau was a greedy sociopathic shark, he would have stayed in the private sector. His earning potential there so outweighs his earning potential in Cabinet as to not even make it a contest. Unless you think the guy is going to turn into a massive bribery machine overnight, he's not in politics for the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC_chick Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 If Bill Moreau was a greedy sociopathic shark, he would have stayed in the private sector. His earning potential there so outweighs his earning potential in Cabinet as to not even make it a contest. Unless you think the guy is going to turn into a massive bribery machine overnight, he's not in politics for the money. I've considered that, and I'm not saying the following is what I believe, for all I know he's going to be a great guy who cares for us little people. But to play devil's advocate to your theory, it's not always about money to people of his stature. He could want power. He could be preparing to be prime-minister one day. There are plenty of reasons why he would be willing to take a pay cut and still be oblivious to everyday people's concerns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToadBrother Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 I've considered that, and I'm not saying the following is what I believe, for all I know he's going to be a great guy who cares for us little people. But to play devil's advocate to your theory, it's not always about money to people of his stature. He could want power. He could be preparing to be prime-minister one day. There are plenty of reasons why he would be willing to take a pay cut and still be oblivious to everyday people's concerns. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the power. I don't think anyone runs for politics without some desire for power. Is that in and of itself a bad motive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.