Let's Get Critical

Bill Graham announced the Liberal Shadow Cabinet today. The upcoming session is going to see some fun pairings. My personal favorite is going to be watching Dr. Irwin Cotler going up one side and down the other of the Honourable Stockwell Day on Public Safety issues. Good thing Mr. Day is a scholar of human rights and civil liberties.

Not that I like the idea of what the Conservatives are going to do to the country in the coming months but I'm planning to have a lot of fun while we're in opposition.

For the sake of indulging in some leadership discussion, let's see where the rumoured hopefuls will be doing their critiquing:

Scott Brison (Environment) - He's leading the charge on Kyoto? Ok so Brison in Environment isn't exactly an intuitive match and it might just be part of his "leadership makeover" (I wonder how the french lessons are going). That being said he'll be able to hit the Conservative on their own terms. As the Party decides to renew itself and its policy I expect the environment will keep him front and center. As an aside, Scott is in Vancouver tonight to try to woo some young Liberals. That will be interesting.

Maurizio Bevilacqua (Competitiveness and the New Economy) - No suprise here, this is his policy niche. He's an R&D policy fanatic and chaired the finance committee for a few years. He'll acquit himself very well but I don't know whether it's gonna help him woo any delegates.

Stephane Dion (Foreign Affairs) - Stephane is one of those brilliant minds that can handle near any portfolio. I imagine a number of people expected Ignatieff to become foreign Affairs critic but these are probably the same folks who think he'll win the leadership on the first ballot. Stephane Dion is going to embarrass Peter Mackay on a regular basis and it's gonna be fun to watch even if his most cutting jibes are delivered in French.

Ken Dryden (Health) - Ken's left-leaning liberal credentials are impeccable and with the current furor around the planned health reforms in Quebec, BC and Alberta having a Health critic who is the political equivalent of teflon is a good idea. This position will also give Ken a bit of a platform to define himself more broadly (assuming the leadership talk comes to something).

Michael Ignatieff (Associate: Human Resources & Skills) - It's good to see Michael cutting his teeth on a counter-intuitive portfolio. Even with all of the hype surrounding the rumours of his leadership intentions he's still a rookie MP without much of a political background and working with a guy like Geoff Regan might help the learning curve. Ignatieff's academic background doesn't directly apply but he's a remarkably widely read man and he's given this stuff some thought. It'll be fun to watch.

Belinda Stronach (Transport) - My first reaction is Seriously? This response arises entirely because other than the hype and the soap opera antics it's tough for me to determine whether she has any substance to her. I try to give her the benefit of the doubt but often come up short. She's got good staff and her background will come in handy I imagine. I'll be interested to see how well she does.

Joe Volpe (Treasury Board) - It's hard for me to think of anything really positive to say. At least he's not critiquing Solberg. He's gonna do a decent job I imagine and his job will essentially come down to pointing out Conservative hypocrisy and reminding Canadians of all the work the Liberals did to fight corruption. Can't think of somewhere better for him to be working.