Come on Marc, you say, how can this be? Well, a year ago, when Maxime Bernier, the somewhat out of his depth foreign affairs minister left behind some documents at his girlfriend's house, he was held responsible and was forced to resign. But, in a similar situation involving Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt, this was not required. Instead, the blame was put on Jasmine MacDonnell, her press secretary.
Now, it is true that this falls within Ms. MacDonnell's responsibilities. However, you would think that the Minister is equally responsible. This was a document labeled secret. Surely the Minister noticed it was missing.
No, the more likely reason for Lisa Raitt's absolution is that the Conservatives are down in the polls, with a risk of an election any time soon. Harper doesn't want the Conservatives to look any worse than they already do. Leaving documents behind is one thing, having ministers resigning is another.
But, if you believe Harper, it's his 26 year old press secretary who's running the show. Look out for that in the next election campaign. Harper's press secretary will be blamed for all the government's shortcomings, as well as asked to represent the PM in the leader's debate.
At least, that is if you believe Mr. Harper's claims regarding Raitt-gate. Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers If you liked this post, please vote for my blog at Canadian Blogosphere
I propose a different reason for keepping the minister: female cabinet ministers are an asset in a election campaign.
ReplyDeleteI don't like to be cynical, but follow me for a momement. Polling has indicated (I'm sorry I don't have a citation) that Women prefer other parties to the Conservative Party. Therefore, Women are a constituent group are important- Women can hurt the standings of other parties, and can provide growth to the Conservative Parties' numbers.
Cabinet ministers have a reasonable high profile-especially nationally. Women voters may be more likely to vote for a party that was Women in cabinet. (the Like votes for Like theory) If this is the case, It is an electoral benefit to have female cabient ministers.
The press secretary is also a women, but has a much lower profile to voters than the cabinet minsiter. Forced to fire someone, it may make better electoral sense to keep the cabient minister.