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.
  

Anyone But Conservative

The conservative platform is out, and the party has unabashedly neglected students. I am extremely dissapointed in this. I've had my personal issues with many of the policies of the Conservative Party in the past, but this is reaching a new low.

The following exert is the only piece of platform that even remotely relates to students, and aside from being terrible policy, is nowhere near comprehensive enough:

"Enhance the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant with a $2,000 completion bonus for apprentices who complete their training in a nationally recognized Red Seal trade program." From CPC site

Really? That's it? Really?

In the last federal election the DSU and CASA chose the slogan "Vote, it's as easy as 1-23", since the election was on January 23rd (1/23/06). This time if you're concerned at all about the state of post secondary education in Canada, even an uneducated and illiterate bafoon could tell you what the DSU is telling you now: "Vote ABC."

The Liberals, Greens and NDP all have weaknesses in their plans for PSE, but they all have plans. They have recognized the importance of sitting down and saying "Hey, we need a policy on PSE." I wish this posting was a critique of the PSE plank of the Conservative Party Platform, but it can't be, because it doesn't exist. Shame. For shame.