Cabinet Shuffle Rumours

Steve has reportedly told his cabinet to 'stay close to their phones and Black Berries' and:

...he has imposed travel restrictions on his ministers beginning next week.

Ministers have been asked to stay within easy flying range of Ottawa, again fuelling the rumour mill about a shuffle.

The only really satisfying shuffle will be the one that sees every last one of them relegated back to the opposition benches this coming year.

Ambrose's head is rightly on the chopping block with Jim Prentice possibly set to come in as her replacement. And what exactly has Prentice done in his role as Indian Affairs minister? Nothing. I'm surprised Steve hasn't just turfed that ministry since he doesn't seem to have any real plans to deal with aboriginal problems in this country. When he ditched the Kelowna accord, he made his non-agenda quite obvious so no matter who might replace Prentice don't expect anything resembling anything like action on that file any time soon.

The National Post threw out this tidbit as well:

Elsewhere, questions circulate around the heads of Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Mac- Kay [sic], Health Minister Tony Clement and Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn.

Ousting or shuffling O'Connor and MacKay would no doubt cause huge ripples since they both have toed the warmongering party line. I can't see them going anywhere any time soon though. Clement and Lunn are just 2 more useless ministers. Come to think of it, have any of these tory cabinet ministers actually done much of anything since they got their portfolios? You'd be hard-pressed to answer that affirmatively except to note what a lousy job they've done in the scheme of things. They are, as one pundit described them, just 'potted plants'. It's been almost 1 year of tory governance and they sure don't have much to show for it.

It looks like the completely incompetent Stockwell Day will be getting another free pass but the rumours surrounding Baird seem to be a bit mixed.

The National Post reports:

there appear to be no question marks over the heads of Finance Minister James Flaherty, who is preparing a budget for as early as February, Treasury Board President James Baird or Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day.

But, the Globe and Mail says:

However, there is some speculation that Mr. Baird, who is bilingual, an aggressive performer in Question Period and a good communicator, could be moved to a portfolio that needs a greater profile.

Pitbull Baird is bound to stick around since he is the biggest damn loudmouth in the tory party with a 'take no prisoners' attitude that makes him look like an absolute asshole to everyone but the tories who always need some tough guy front man to distract from how weak they really are. He's a bullying menace who makes for good political theater if you're into watching bozo mafia soldier types who seem like they're ready to snap at any given moment and often do.

It doesn't matter how Steve shuffles his minions. He'll still retain complete control of everything they say and do while trying to make it look like he actually cares about federal governance because, as Scott points out, his commitment to that principle is highly questionable.

Election 2007. Show up.