So said the Pundits about Premier Ford's Cabinet Shuffle yesterday.
But Ford missed one...Himself and to a lesser extent ...He missed firing his Chief of Staff Doug French.
That said I see French as another dead-man-walking thus his firing will come sooner than later. With respect to Ford himself, that will naturally not come now but will be left to either his Caucus in the medium term or to the Electorate in the longer term.
So why do I say that.
Thursday's blood-bath came about as a result of Ford and Co. first year in office which though Ford himself said it had been a great success and although he was quoted as saying he had the best Cabinet ever, his actions yesterday prove that to be all puff and nonsense.
And Dear Reader, if anyone one person is responsible for the slips, retractions, and poor policies generally, it falls at the feet of the Leader - aka Doug Ford.
So let's look at the main casualties:
First the size of Cabinet ...it went from 21 to 28 and startling increase of some 25%. How do you rationalize this in an apparent time of restraint? Well you can't. And how to do face Toronto Council when your first job as Premier was to drastically reduce their ranks? No can do as well.
Rumour had it that Vic Fedeli was toast and would be dropped entirely from Cabinet. He who held the Party together when Star-Crossed Brown imploded. And He who would have made the best candidate for Premier...indeed it was his for the taking if he only wanted it. Fortunately, although a major demotion, Ford kept him on as Minister for Eco Development.
And then there is Ottawa's Lisa MacLeod - humiliatingly demoted to the next to useless role of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Macleod was one of Ford's biggest cheerleaders and now I would suspect you will not see her stay on for the next election.
And another Lisa...Lisa Thompson who was unceremoniously dumped from the Education Ministry and ended up in Government and Consumer Services whatever that happens to be.
Where the two Lisas went wrong is they followed Ford's instructions to their joint detriment.
And then there is Caroline Mulroney...she who traded on her famous name or to some ...her infamous name similar to the only thing Justin Trudeau had going for him in the last Federal Election. Just for the record, I personally subscribe to the infamous descriptor for both.
Now one thing Ford did not do - and I mean did not do---he left Christine Elliott in place as Health Minister though he hived off certain of her heretofore responsibilities. Elliott should have been Leader instead of Ford. Word has it though that she sustained a serious fall and head injury recently so her time too maybe be limited.
Bottom-line here, I am not enamored with the Ford shuffle. For year two he needs to take more responsibility for his own leadership which primarily entails getting rid of the debt / budget deficit and showing his pride and his team's pride in doing so. In other words, they all need to quit pandering to noisy little self interest groups and work for the hardworking taxpayer.
As I See It...
K.D. Bell
The second major person in Cabinet was Christine Elliott
