� New Cabinet - Winners and Losers | Home | Do we really need this person? �
July 20, 2004
Valeri has his work cut out for him
When you're facing a minority Parliament, there is no more important position than House Leader. The person the PM puts in that role needs to be a good negotiator, understand Parliamentary procedure and above all, needs to have the full trust of the PM.
The House Leader will have to make important decisions on the spot and have the confidence that his decisions/compromises will be supported by the PM. After all he will be potentially changing legislation in order to get the support of opposition parties - something that could annoy or anger the Ministers who sponsor it.
The persistent rumour was that Mr. Martin wanted his trusted ally Ralph Goodale to take on the role, but Mr. Goodale's people pushed back very publicly, saying he wanted to stay on as Finance Minister.
So the PM has gone with another trusted, but less experienced friend, Tony Valeri. Can he go toe-to-toe with the Conservative's John Reynolds (an experienced Parliamentarian with an astounding knowledge of Parliamentary procedure) or the NDP's Libbie Davies? Does he have confidence and respect of his Cabinet colleagues who will be resistant to changes in their legislation?
It remains to be seen if Mr. Valeri has it in him. What we know for sure is he will be a target - for the opposition, the media, and his own colleagues. Hmm, I wonder if Mr. Martin gave him a bullet-proof vest to go with his new job?
Posted by maxthecat on July 20, 2004 at 12:25 PM
| Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.maxsmewsings.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/75
