Yesterday, things got a lot worse for Justin Trudeau's government. Jane Philpott's resignation has sent shock waves through Ottawa. The Liberals are out of the frying pan and into the fire. Chantal Hebert writes:
Until late Monday, most Liberals believed that now that Wilson-Raybould had laid her cards on the table and described what she called sustained attempts of high-level political interference in the legal handling of SNC-Lavalin’s legal file, the worst was behind them.
They stand to be more shaken by this second resignation than they were by anything they heard over the course of the former attorney general’s testimony last Wednesday.
Wilson-Raybould and Philpott are friends and they dislike taking orders from the Prime Minister's Office:
Over the past three years, both have butted heads with the PMO over various files. There is no doubt that they have often compared notes.
And, yes, there are probably not enough fans of the ex-attorney general left at the cabinet table for this latest resignation to be the start of a chain reaction.
But the former treasury board president was also widely considered both one of the top performers in the Liberal cabinet and one of the government’s steadiest hands. She is a popular member of the Liberal caucus. Like the former attorney general, she plans to remain in that caucus.
Both women are ministers who Trudeau can't afford to lose. To lose them both in a month could be a fatal blow to Mr. Trudeau -- who hasn't offered much in his defence.
This is not how one successfully manages a government.
Image: The Toronto Star
4 comments:
I still have to be mindful of the egos in the room. When does ones level of commitment to country and constituents remain steadfast and not get overshadowed by personal friendships, dissatisfaction with your boss or any other reasons one can possibly think of here.
The levels of incompetence are not left squarely on the shoulders of Trudeau. I still question the credentials of every one in every position of Government and their abilities to handle any portfolio. I have known some pretty incompetent professionals that I wouldn't hand the keys to the company store.
Who in everyday life can resign because the Boss upset you or you had lost confidence or your friend had been maligned? are we so naive as to think that this collusion among our "Leaders" is something new to this Government. This Government has only shown their inability to do their jobs. It is less about keeping things moving for the good of the citizens and more about their own egos. Vote Green and be done with it.
Undoubtably, zoombats, there are big egos butting heads here. By the time this is put to bed, there may well be all kinds of new Green voters.
Its an odd situation when it is the women that have the balls! to do something.
At the end of the day this it not a political problem but a systemic one..
TB
As a number of people have pointed out, TB, it would help if the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General were two separate offices. But the political consequences of all of this are hard to calculate.
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