LARRY ZOLF:
Cabinet making
CBC News Viewpoint | December 16, 2003 | More from Larry Zolf
Paul Martin's cabinet making is in stark contrast to that of Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Trudeau kept most of the Pearson ministers he inherited, the cream of the crop – Paul Martin Sr., Mitchell Sharp, Paul Hellyer, John Turner, Jean Chrétien, to name but a few. Martin has discarded 22 Chrétien ministers, some – like John Manley, Allan Rock and Sheila Copps – with high profiles.
What Martin has done is replace 22 old Chrétien ministers with someone brand new, whom he trusts implicitly and who will always do a hands-on micro management job – namely Paul Martin himself. Martin's role model in cabinet making is that of chief executive officer, the role he played so well in developing Canada Steamship Lines.
All fingers point at Martin himself. All the committees, secretariats, bureaucrats, all the ministers of state are there for the greater glory and power of Paul Martin. All the secretariats, all the ministers and parliamentary secretaries sworn in as privy councillors, do nothing to erase the democratic deficit. Those MPs who haven't made it to one of Martin's lists are living proof of Trudeau's remark that 50 yards from Parliament Hill MPs are nobodies.
All this focus on himself and his powers does have historical aspects. In a 1930s cartoon, R.B. Bennett, our richest prime minister until Paul Martin came along, was depicted as talking to his cabinet in which every minister was R.B. Bennett; the point was clear that Bennett made all the decisions. His wealth and business success made him feel he was superior to anyone else in politics so he acted as a one-man band.
Paul Martin, the successful businessman, has many of R.B. Bennett's characteristics but he doesn't run a one-man shop. Ralph Goodale, Anne McLellan, Reg Alcock and Stephen Owen are four real westerners and Martin hopes they'll help him end western alienation. Scott Brison, the gay Tory MP from Nova Scotia, is welcomed aboard the SS Paul Martin and is given a parliamentary secretaryship in the key Canadian-American committee. Martin here has his eye clearly on winning Atlantic seats in the next election.
The American card that Martin is playing is a careful one. Jean Chrétien knew he could curry favour with Quebecers and other Canadians by not joining the coalition forces in Iraq. Brian Mulroney wanted Canadian troops in Iraq, but he was always too close to the Americans for Canadians' liking. Mulroney got Canada into free trade but never erased his image as the lap poodle of the Americans.
Chrétien went the other way: he had no fears about tweaking the eagle's feathers. By standing up to the U.S., Chrétien got three majorities in a row. Martin believes by being nice to the Americans he'll get a fourth majority. Besides, Martin wants to distance himself from Chrétien on the American file.
Already there's talk of Martin being a continentalist too ready to join the U.S. in the anti-ballistic missile shield. The results for Martin could be devastating if he's perceived as Bush's poodle. By leaving Bill Graham in Foreign Affairs Martin is showing he's aware of the dangers of a too-enthusiastic embrace of the Americans.
Martin may be playing down Quebec and raising the West as his number 1 area of desired growth but that might be a dangerous game. Quebec has no great stars in the Martin cabinet except Martin himself. Like Mulroney, he doesn't feel the need for a Quebec lieutenant. Martin also has more Quebec nationalists in his cabinet than Chrétien ever did.
Quebec is Martin's base of strength and he wants no rebellions there that he can't personally handle. If Quebec starts to grumble, Martin will have to deliver something grand, a renewed Meech Lake Accord, for instance, or something along the lines of a distinct society. But if he does that he'll anger Western Canada and blow that vote. Still, time is on Martin's side. An election sooner rather than later should prevent any possible Western-Quebec collision.
What Martin has been really good at in his cabinet making is his ethnic politics. Albina Guarnieri, Tony Valeri, Judy Sgro, Joe Comuzzi, and Joe Volpe are all proof that with Martin ethnic power is really top drawer. Joe Volpe as Martin's Toronto man in charge symbolizes the difference between Martin and Chrétien beautifully.
David Collenette, the former Toronto key minister, is nowhere in Martin's entourage. Martin has rewarded the ethnic groups with visible power for the first time; under Martin, multiculturalism will be more than ethnic recipes and folk dancing. Martin's ethnic cabinet component is a long overdue recognition of how much the Liberals owe the immigrants and the ethnic groups in Canada.
All in all, Martin's cabinet making is more interesting and more fun to watch than are his speeches and efforts on democratic deficit. With his cabinet and his personal resolve, Martin will play politics well in the months before the next federal election.
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LARRY ZOLF
POLITICAL COMMENTATOR
Veteran journalist and Canadian political expert Larry Zolf is a regular contributor to CBC News Online. Larry has been a critic, reporter, producer and consultant for CBC news and current affairs since he joined the CBC in 1962. Born and raised in North End Winnipeg, the hotbed of general strikes and socialism, Larry has covered stories such as integration in Mississippi and the October Crisis in Quebec. He was one of the hosts of the CBC's flagship current affairs television show "This Hour Has 7 Days." He is now retired.
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