ChuckerCanuck 2.0

We have been told, mostly by those folks who pine for the days of Allan Rock and Jean Lapierre, that our current government has a shallow pool of talent from which to form a cabinet.



It was a fair point in the early days of 2006 when the Tories were in power for the first time in over a decade. Even with the Minnas, MacCauleys and Easters of the world, Liberals had the sheen of government and therefore looked, by default, more competent.



Now, many more months than anyone expected, it takes the resignation of a cabinet minister to highlight just how wrong that notion is. Judy Sgro, fr'instance, resigned over her lap-dance policies and other alleged improprieties just 12 months into the reign of Paul Martin.



Imagine that: this natural governing party, after a decade of stewardship, finally led by the juggernaut of Liberaldom, had to drop an incompetent minister a full 14 odd months before the Tories had to drop their first incompetent minister. To put it relatively, the Tory cabinet avoided a gaffe-induced harikari for more than twice as long as the most recent Liberal regime.



Pretty impressive stuff. It speaks to the disciplined management of Prime Minister Harper and the talent he can draw on from the Tory caucus (and he hasn't yet exhausted the backbench potential, like Diane Ablonzy).



Against that, it wouldn't be so comforting to display your most able alternative.... Bob Rae.

Labels: Turning the Bernier affair into a veritable hit machine