The theory with the Prime Minister's plan of keeping a tight noose on cabinet is that it will keep the Tories from making stupid mistakes. Tight discipline means a tight ship. No mistakes means a government that stands a much better chance of geting reelected.
The thing is, I don't think it's going to work. In the short term it does. Fear works in doses and when you're in a minority government situation people with large egos who like to talk a lot will try extreme measures such as shutting up and listening to your leader.
But you knew it was going to break down. It wasn't going to last. Too many egos. Too many "ooops" moments were going to happen. And the last couple of days pretty much have shown that.
There was Loyola yesterday and his shot at Paul McCartney. You know, it was a bit of a cheap shot. I'm not going to defend McCartney...he shouldn't have come over and messed with the seal hunt in the first place.
But to go and make jokes and gloat about helping dissolve his marriage....why? It just looked stupid and petty. Even the Premier had the sense to stay away from it. Would that Hearn shared it.
Then there was the racket with Garth Turner being kicked out of caucus, something that's probably going to backfire. If Turner joins the Greens, that could be very interesting. It could backfire on Harper a lot. It could give the environmental lobby a very loud voice in the House of Commons. All to get rid of a MP who was being a bit vocal.
But if bad things come in threes, then boy did Peter MacKay pull a doozie. I mean, it was a great quick and snarky comment. If I were a bitter and jilted man, it's something I might have come up with. So part of me can appreciate it.
But, you know, if you're the Minister for Foreign Affairs standing in the House of Commons, maybe you pass up the obvious zinger. Maybe you don't call your ex a dog.
So, it's been a beauty last few days for the Conservatives. And you get the feeling it's just getting started. Because if you want to throw in a fourth bad thing, the Conservatives new environment platform didn't exactly set the world on fire today. And with a minority government, I'm not optimistic about the odds of it getting passed.
You think the Prime Minister is regretting that whole "winning the election" thing right about now?
2 comments:
National novel writing contest? Count me in...always willing to give it a shot. 50 000 words or bust.
Well, at least Peter MacKay blew his other gaffe of the day out of the water:
During questions from the Bloc Québécois about the fate of funding for dance troupes, posed in French, MacKay stood up and replied in English.
Presumably assuming the question was about military troops in Afghanistan, MacKay said: "Obviously we are involved in this with 36 other countries. This is a deployment of troops that is involved in interesting and important work to provide security for the development for the important work that is undertaken."
It was left to Bloc MP Maka Kotto to set MacKay straight, pointing out that the question was about dance troupes, theatre and music, not soldiers.
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