PM hints cabinet shuffle imminent

by JANE TABER — August 3, 2007

CHARLOTTETOWN -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper suggested yesterday that he is considering shuffling his cabinet this summer, as he gave a rare public assessment of his colleagues' work.

Praising his closest colleagues for their behaviour, he suggested he had managed to govern through consensus in all but a few unspecified policy areas. But changes to the ranks may still come, he said, with a decision expected shortly. Cabinet ministers have been told not to leave the country in mid-August, fuelling speculation of a shuffle.

"Obviously we'll have to make a decision on that before we reach the fall session [of Parliament] one way or the other," Mr. Harper said at a news conference. "And you can anticipate we'll make our decisions on that one way or the other fairly shortly."

Mr. Harper was speaking to reporters at the end of the annual Conservative caucus summer retreat, where MPs and senators discussed what their new fall agenda should be.

A senior Tory insider said yesterday the speculation among senior cabinet ministers' staffers is that the shuffle could include as many as half of Mr. Harper's 31-member cabinet.

There has been persistent speculation that Gordon O'Connor, the Defence Minister, will be removed from his post because of his handling of controversial issues such as Afghan detainees and the funding of military funerals.

Moving a senior minister such as Mr. O'Connor would create a domino effect, forcing the Prime Minister to make more key moves, involving some of the most senior ministers.

A senior Conservative Party source said that in addition to Mr. O'Connor, ministers who could be involved in the shuffle include Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, Treasury Board Minister Vic Toews and Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.

"There is lots of chatter," the source said. "Some ministers' staff have already, allegedly, received evaluations on how they have done so far and it has been suggested that they are on the move."

There is speculation Mr. Day or Mr. Bernier could be moved into the Defence portfolio, leaving open the important Public Safety and Industry files.

The Prime Minister gave a long and substantive answer to a reporter's question about his cabinet and its decision-making style.

"On very, very rare occasions would I make a decision on a policy matter as opposed to just routine machinery of government issues," he said.

"Frankly, I think we've been really fortunate ... and we've had a large degree of consensus on almost all of the decisions we've made. I have a great group of people, all highly ethical people, who while they bring individual, regional and personal perspectives to issues ... [on] all but a very small number of issues there has been a very, very broad consensus. ...

"I don't think I've ever been in a position where I've had to really force a decision through on one group of people or another group of people," he said.

The Prime Minister has already shuffled his cabinet once since winning election in January, 2006. Last January, he moved Rona Ambrose from the controversial Environment portfolio into Intergovernmental Affairs.

She was replaced by John Baird, the Ottawa MP and former Treasury Board minister who delivered the government's centrepiece accountability legislation.

Source:The Globe and Mail