Slowly but surely Rona Ambrose is being crucified for her stand on climate change. Pre-mature predictions of her ousting from cabinet over her apparent mishandling of the environment have turned into predictions of a “demotion” to intergovernmental affairs.
Going from a major government file that no one wanted, that had gave little chance for a young female up-and-coming Conservative MP to make any name for herself in, to a major government file that many people want, and gives Madame Ambrose ample opportunity to make a mark on, strikes me as being an odd action to refer to as being a “demotion.”
Madame Ambrose is well respected by the party faithful for standing up for Conservatives principles when it comes to child care. And she has been loyal to Harper’s leadership unlike some.
Despite some errors in judgement, I don't believe a shuffle of Ambrose to Intergovernmental affairs comes at any fault from her loyal performance to the Conservative cause. I think it comes from shifting strategy.
Harper I believe is starting to see the Environment file in much the same way that he sees Healthcare strategically: wherever the Liberals are - so are we.
With the election of an enviro-centric Liberal leader Stephane Dion and the surprising results in the recent London North Centre Bi-Election that showed a near Green Party victory, Harper may see the environment as becoming a non-winnable issue for the Tories.
Ambrose is still alive and well.
Intergovernmental Affairs was the clear and easy choice for her from the getgo, but I believe Harper put her in the Environment portfolio because her extensive IA career background might have led her to be perceived as overqualified.
ReplyDeleteIA is not an easy portfolio, particularly with the current stress about the fiscal imbalance. Moving Ambrose to IA is definitely not a demotion.
You mentioned in your post that Harper is becoming "wherever the Liberals are - so are we." I think this is quite an unfair assessment. In some things the electorate will accept and embrace wholesale change. In other areas (like healthcare) the majority of people will only accept change in small increments. The key is to know what approach you can use in different areas and may require some experimentation.
ReplyDelete