Shadow wasn't just a dog in homeward bound...

Opposition parties appointed their shadow cabinets this week. For politically innocent reading this blog, a shadow cabinet is a set of opposition MPs assigned to each Minister's portfolio to critique the work they do (or in some cases, the work they don't do). Shadow is probably not the right word for it at the federal level. Unrelenting acid rain cloud is probably the more appropriate term.



The department responsible for Post Secondary Education (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada) is under the ministry of Diane Finley.

Her critics:

Liberal MP Mike Savage (Dartmouth Cole Harbour)
NDP MP Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie)

The NDP critic is responsible for critiquing the minister based on NDP policy. The Liberal critic however, in addition to being the Liberal critic for the portfolio, is also deemed the official critic of the portfolio for all of Canada as a member of the official opposition. A great idea, keep the other guys in check, but realistically I'm not sold on the effectiveness of it.

Other interesting tidbits:

• Halifax MP Megan Leslie is now the NDP Critic for Post Secondary Education and Literacy, along with some deputy critic duties for the department of Justice and first nations (urban issues). A very fitting portfolio given the landscape of our riding here in Halifax. Puzzling, however is the NDP's choice in cabinet posts. The NDP caucus is one seat short of matching the size of Harper's cabinet, yet the NDP have chosen to have critics (such as critic for Post Secondary Education, Poverty, and Youth) for ministerial positions that don't yet exist.
  
• Harper has one of the largest cabinets in recent history (with 38 MPS) rivaled only by the cabinets of Brian Mulroney.
  
• Cabinet members get tonnes of perks. Namely, a $67 700 raise from their standard MP's salary of $155 400/year (which alone puts all MPs in the top two percent of income earners in Canada). And, don't forget the limo rides.
  

Change Jack Can Believe In

There's nothing that makes me want to support NDP more than bands that sound like Coldplay.

New Democrats from across Nova Scotia gathered in Halifax for a rally this afternoon. The place was full of interesting sorts, including old men in Obama T-Shirts, several Dalhousie professors, Canadian Autoworkers and disgruntled airline stewardesses.

I arrived just at noon, and was a bit thrown off by the awkward setup of the room. The podium was setup facing the cameras, with the crowd seating on the opposite side. I wasn't seated for more than two minutes when several NDP staffers tried to convince me to come stand in the crowd.

"Come down and stand around Jack, we need a big crowd" they said.

"I'm just here to watch," I said while pointing at my CASA sweater.

"But you need a sign!" they insisted. I held my ground. They eventually gave up. Only later would I realize that they were only asking young people to come down, and weren't paying much attention to the grey heads next to me.

Darryl Dexter introduced Layton, reminding us that there was only one leader standing up against big oil companies, fighting for public health care, and working families. This is frustrating to me, because I know its simply not true! Whether or not you agree that we should be standing up against big oil, privatization of health care, and the like, anyone with half a brain knows that the NDP share a similar position with other opposition parties on many of these issues.

Jack Layton is targetting Harper almost exclusively now. He has limited his criticism of Dion, simply calling Dion the Leader who supported Harper by abstaining on 43 confidence motions. He says the NDP is appealling to Canadians who would otherwise vote Liberal, who are thinking about voting Green, and who used to vote for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. "If you want to stop Stephen Harper, only New Democrats can do it," he said at today's rally, "the choice is between Jack Layton and Stephen Harper."

For the (small g) Greens in the crowd, it may interest you to know that Jack flew from Iqualuit to Halifax last night. Not the most efficient route of travel. He also claimed that his plane flew through the Northern Lights. Sorry Jack, but the Northern Lights happen in the Ionosphere, at least 50 kilometers above sea level, which is 40 kilometers above cruising altitude.