Politics: Canada: Prime Minister reshuffles his cabinet and gets a bonus member for his caucus

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United Press International in a theadbare and poorly written report carries word of Prime Minister Harper's reshuffle of his Canadian govt cabinet (Jan4,2k7).

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reshuffled his Cabinet Thursday in moves designed to prepare the Conservative Party for an expected election.

The highest profile move took Rona Ambrose from Environment minister to minister for Intergovernmental Affairs, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported. Ambrose has been under heavy criticism for failing to sell her party's Clean Air Bill.

John Baird, president of the Treasury Board, replaced Ambrose at the Ministry for the Environment.

While Harper made extensive changes, no one was pushed out of the 27-member Cabinet and the ministers in charge of the four most important departments -- Finance, Foreign Affairs, Public Safety and Defense -- remained in place.

The picked up more seats than the Liberals in last year's election but failed to win a parliamentary majority or to form a majority coalition with the Bloc Quebecois or the New Democrats.

The Liberal Party, which was forced into an election when its alliance with the New Democrats fell apart, has had a recent comeback in popularity and is even with the Conservatives in recent polls.

But even the latter has changed more recently, with the Liberal Leadership Convention and the election there of Stephane Dion as the party's leader after a year in disarray giving the Libs a bounce but the slow steady slide in poll numbers has made the Conserves again the party with the most public support, of all the parties in the Federal parliament.

It was a tactical strength for Harper to wait until after Dion was in plaqce, and until after the tone of the Lib attack under Dion was settled, before making cabinet reshuffle of his own. So, in theory with a Lib leader in place and new elements in the Conserve govt's cabinet, things are set for an election.

Meanwhile, Harper's Liberal advisor (Canada's Pakistan/India relations), Wajid Khan has been order to drop the post or be dismissed from the Lib caucus. Allan Woods reported in Toronto Star (Jan5,2k7). Khan crossed the floor of parliament to join the Conservs as a backbencher.

The internicine statistics regarding the House of Commons now have shifted so that the Prime Minister only needs the NDP's vote to pass legislation--as has already been the case with Federal Accountability Act and the proposed Clean Air Act.

--Politicarp