Monday, March 14, 2011

"I see dead cabinet people" - Christy Clark cabinet will leave some BC Liberal veterans in political coffin this afternoon

BC Finance Minister Colin Hansen - pushed out of cabinet this afternoon? 
Expect a lot of unhappy faces in the BC Liberal caucus this afternoon when Premier Christy Clark is sworn in with her new cabinet.

You don't need sixth sense to see dead cabinet people - but will they turn into zombies and attack their former government?

Cabinet ministers like Colin Hansen, Moira Stilwell, Kevin Krueger,  Iain Black, Shirley Bond, Murray Coell, Margaret MacDiarmid, Ida Chong, Randy Hawes, Steve Thomson, Naomi Yamamoto, Ben Stewart and John Yap are at best playing lifeboat with very few, if any, seats left.

Will any of them openly complain?  Rebel?  Retire? Join the BC Conservative Party?

[NOTE: to regular BC Liberal readers - time to rush off and post comments here or on Twitter about my role "promoting" the BC Conservatives!]

In early cabinet horserace predictions I suggested Blair Lekstrom and Terry Lake could be in the CCC - that seems even more likely now.

But the real question is whether the swearing-in show starting at 1 p.m. in Victoria is capped by fireworks in the evening, with big egos blowing up spectacularly as their cabinet flames go out.

UPDATE #1 - Moira Stilwell looking grave.  Public Eye Online's Sean Holman reports that cabinet rigor mortis starting to set in for the former BC Liberal leadership candidate who dropped out to support George Abbott, not Christy.  The Globe's Gary Mason saying same on Twitter - and now online at his paper, while the Vancouver Sun's Vaughn Palmer on Twitter saying it's Clark's second major error - first being no inquiry into Basi-Virk $6 million defence payment.

UPDATE #2 - CABINET SWEARING IN - Hansen, Stilwell, Kevin Krueger, Murray Coell, Margaret MacDiarmid, John Yap, Randy Hawes all join the ranks of the BC Liberal backbench.  Seriously - it is tough to be demoted, especially in public like this.

Full cabinet appointments, with parliamentary secretaries and committees plus responsibilities at: http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2011PREM0018-000255.htm#

Here's the rundown for cabinet:

The new cabinet appointed and sworn into office by the Lieutenant-Governor in a ceremony today is:


· Premier – Hon. Christy Clark
· Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance – Hon. Kevin Falcon
· Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation – Hon. Mary Polak
· Minister of Advanced Education – Hon. Naomi Yamamoto
· Minister of Agriculture – Hon. Don McRae
· Attorney General – Hon. Barry Penner
· Minister of Children and Family Development – Hon. Mary McNeil
· Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development – Hon. Ida Chong
· Minister of Education – Hon. George Abbott
· Minister of Energy and Mines (minister responsible for Housing) – Hon. Rich Coleman
· Minister of Environment – Hon. Terry Lake
· Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations – Hon. Steve Thomson
· Minister of Health – Hon. Michael de Jong
· Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation – Hon. Pat Bell
· Minister of Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government – Hon. Stephanie Cadieux
· Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General – Hon. Shirley Bond
· Minister of Social Development (minister responsible for multiculturalism) – Hon. Harry Bloy
· Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure – Hon. Blair Lekstrom

.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe Crusty Clark asked Stilwell to vacate her Vancouver Langara seat to make way for an easy byelection win and Stilwell turned her down.

Anonymous said...

Maybe Crusty Clark asked Stilwell to vacate her Vancouver Langara seat to make way for an easy byelection win and Stilwell turned her down.

Not likely. What is likely is for Gordon Campbell to step down and let Point Grey open for a by-election.

Anonymous said...

Well, we did say Christy is another Campbell, with a skirt. Anyone opposing Campbell lost their jobs. I can see Christy ridding herself, of anyone that opposed her as well. Hansen refused to give up his seat for Christy. I think Bill T, is dead on. Heads will roll.

Anonymous said...

Will Campbell give up his riding?

I thought I read somewhere, there is a fear the NDP, could win the riding? They had done so, in the past. I am not positive, on that score. Just a vague memory.

Many of us wanted Bill T. to run. You would have done a good job, for us Bill.

Anonymous said...

Chrusty... "You may run, but you cannot hide"

Kam Lee

Anonymous said...

Interesting...Stilwell left out of cabinet and Hansen too and they both sit in nice safe Vancouver ridings that CC might have liked to have for herself.

Anonymous said...

After Margaret MacDiarmid's poor performance as Minister of Education I would not be pleased to see her move to the back bench.

Anonymous said...

the only Vancouver mla in cabinet is Mary McNeil. How interesting.

Anonymous said...

" Chrusty... "You may run, but you cannot hide" "

Kam Lee

Nice words, Kam, but you have to also work the campaign too. Writing words to a blog isn't going to get anyone elected.

Get out there if you care.

DPL said...

I notice Coleman is still in cabinet, so I guess he knows just where the bodies are buried.Useless Murray has finally ended up where he should always have been, back row. Looks like any treaty work with this gang will be on the back burner. If the recall dumps the one from Comox "Perky Christy will be able to bring Bennett back into the front row. The hit man against the removal of the HST and Deputy Premier keeps him from running against Clark

Anonymous said...

The hit man against the removal of the HST and Deputy Premier keeps him from running against Clark

A little late for that one. The leadership is over. If you mean Falcon running for the Provincial Tories, forget it. They're nothing but a box of wing nuts being marketed by a tulip salesman and some zany character.

If Falcon moved politically anywhere it would be federal.

Anonymous said...

Well, she sure cleaned house alot. Hansen... toast. And alot of other dead weight (Iain Black, Randy Hawes) sent packing. There's nothing dainty about Christy when it comes to politics. She was the liberal pit bull in opposition and she showed her ruthlessness today with her cabinet appointments. Gotta question Cadieux as labour minister though. That's a screwball appointment but not surprising given the Fiberals lack of respect for the ministry.

Anonymous said...

Hey Bill ,do you think there is a few pis@ed off liberals now that Lekstrom is back in AND promoted?

Anonymous said...

"Nice words, Kam, but you have to also work the campaign too. Writing words to a blog isn't going to get anyone elected.
Get out there if you care."

Interesting comments for sure. I have worked on the last 3 provincial elections, active in 2 federal elections, and have worked the phones for my chosen reps.
My concern is for BC. To have this person, Cristy Clark walze in, unelected, with all her baggage (eg: BC Rail, her part in it) Once
belonging to the most corrupt government to ever hold office. Yes anonymous, I am very active. May I say the same about you? I hope so.

Kam Lee

Anonymous said...

Poor old Crusty, slim pickings for her cabinet. So many been investigated by the police. Maybe thats why such a small cabinet.

Kam Lee

Crankypants said...

On the up side, she now has Chris Olson, of CTV fame, on her side.

Ron1 said...

I live in Oak Bay - Gordon Head.

I cannot believe that Stilwell is out and Ida Chong is in!!!!

What a shallow talent pool.

Will Bill Bennett join a John Cummins-led BC tory party?

Anonymous said...

The new guy running the Public Affairs Bureau is taking a leave of absence from his job at the Vancouver Island Health Authority, that according to a story in the Vancouver Sun. Sounds like the election is coming soon and Mr. Sweeney doesn't like the government's chances and he's looking for a soft landing.
But the bigger question is why can senior officials in a publicly funded body take a leave to take on a senior political job with the government and then be guaranteed employment?

Anonymous said...

Where is the media and the NDP questioning the price of Martyn Brown's severance for 5 months work as a Deputy Minister? What about the highly touted Lesley du Toit experiment that ran afoul of Mary Ellen Turpel Lafond?

Where are the questions about the size of severance paid out to the political staff of Gordon Campbell and the Deputy Ministers from his reign?

The honeymoon for Clark will continue until the NDP start forcing some issues.

Anonymous said...

Can anyone explain why Doug Konkin - who was so unpopular in forests last time that forest companies went en masse to Campbell to complain - is back in forests? Particularly after his secret nest-feathering stunt of creating the now-dead ministry of Natural Resource operations? And with all the interest in Martyn Brown's severance, lets not forget Paul Taylor's. Severance costs are just the price of getting rid of some of this deadweight though. The Ministerial talent pool is atrocious and all the talent in the senior bureaucracy left years ago.

Anonymous said...

Great that Randy Hawes has been removed. The catastrophe of the Aggregate Pilot Project in the Fraser Valley needs to be stopped. There are too many gravel pits in the valley. He has listened to no-one but the aggregate industry. He was arrogant and condescending

Anonymous said...

Where is the media and the NDP questioning the price of Martyn Brown's severance for 5 months work as a Deputy Minister?

Exactly where the NDP was when NDP government Deputy Ministers left with huge severance payouts.