REPORT from OTTAWA Rapport d’Ottawa

by/par Carol Hughes Federal member of Parliament Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing

At the end of July, the Prime Minister made some significant changes to his cabinet. Whilecabinetshufflesareafairlynormalpartof governing, this particular shuffle has felt a little different.It'sclearthatthereareseveralbigfiles important to Canadians that need to be focused on,suchasthecostoffoodandhousing,climate change and the transition to a clean energy economy,aswellasthechallengesinhealthcare. It's obvious that these issues have not received the attention they have needed or deserved recently, and if this cabinet shuffle signals anything, it's that the Prime Minister is finally realizing that his government must reset its agendaandaddressthesekeyconcernswithreal actionorrisktheelectoralconsequences.

What's often interesting in Cabinet shuffles are not the new faces being given Ministerial responsibility, but those who've lost it. Seven former Ministers are no longer in Cabinet, including Omar Alghabra, Joyce Murray,HelenaJaczek,CarolynBennett,Marco Mendicino, David Lametti, and Mona Fortier. While Murray, Jaczek, Bennett, and Alghabra have announced they will not be running for reelection, Fortier, the former President of the TreasuryBoard,Lametti,theformerMinisterof JusticeandAttorneyGeneral,andMendicino,the former Public Safety Minister, have been releasedfromCabinetwithoutnewportfolios.

While clearly these are difficult portfolios, there have been some problems in each that needed to be addressed sooner, or just handled better. Bail reform has been a big issue on the justice file, and proposed reforms have beenslowtomaterialize.

Fortier, as Treasury Board Minister, was responsible for negotiating on behalf of the government with public servants a few months back, which resulted in the largest public union strikeinCanadianhistory.

However, the most obvious change to cabinetwasinPublicSafety,whereseverallarge, importantfileswereclearlymishandledthisyear by former Minister Mendicino: from the inexplicable last-minute amendments to the government's handgun bill, C-21, that were eventually repealed and justifiably frustrated hunters, farmers, and sport shooters; the mishandling of foreign interference allegations; and more recently, the refusal to negotiate fair contracts with First Nations Police Services.