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Thursday, December 10, 2009
Peter MacKay can be safely gotten rid of now
John Ibbitson makes a case for why Stephen Harper will refuse to kick Defense Minister MacKay out of cabinet, even if he deserves to be booted. Though Mr. Ibbitson may be right in his over all argument, I disagree with one of his points:
Third, and most important, Peter MacKay is a partner in the Conservative coalition. Don't forget that this government is in office only because Mr. MacKay agreed to merge his Progressive Conservatives with Mr. Harper's Canadian Alliance back in 2003. Firing Mr. MacKay would split the party.
In 2005 Peter MacKay threatened to split apart the Conservative Party. At the convention Scott Reid campaigned to change the leadership rules to a one member one vote system, instead of the current riding based electoral college. This was seen by Mr.MacKay, and others, as an attack on the PC section of the party. So in response Mr. MacKay threatened to lead a revolt.
It was a dramatic moment at the convention. It led to one of the media's favourite stories of Stephen Harper, his kicking a chair across a room in anger. Yet that was also four years ago and a lot has changed since then. The Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservatives are now very much entwined into a single party. The Conservative Party is no longer so weak that one man can split it apart.
The most significant change is that the Conservatives are in government, and they are unlikely to be out of government any time soon. Being securely in government is the greatest uniting factor for any political party. It means that loyalty will be awarded with patronage and dissenters will be left in the cold.
In short Mr. MacKay can no longer lead a revolt because he has nothing to offer his potential followers. His chances of becoming Prime Minister isn't exactly overwhelming, especially if he breaks away to start his own party. So there would be littleopportunity for him to reward those that remain loyal to the old PC name.
If the Prime Minister really had to or even just wanted to, he could easily take the axe to Minister MacKay.
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on December 10, 2009 | Permalink
Comments
Mackay needs to go. He can't do one job right let alone all the positions he is holding. The guy is just done, he has done too many people and too many things wrong, he should resign.
Posted by: Tired of Peter MacKay | 2009-12-10 7:41:46 AM
Here's what I think: http://smackstephenharper.com
Posted by: MacKayniac | 2009-12-10 8:34:17 AM
Maybe Mr. MacKay should go. They can relent on this issue. What they must never give up on is preventing climate change measures from passing. Implementing Kyoto is economic suicide. Any such dealings must be prevented at all costs.
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 2009-12-10 3:15:41 PM
The Man Who Stands For Nothing isn't much of a value to the party. he never was.
http://shelshockcanada.blogspot.com/2009/11/this-is-afghanistan-what-did-you-expect.html
Posted by: shel | 2009-12-10 7:08:41 PM
Why would any principled libertarian wish to see Peter MacKay "gotten rid of"?
This career liar, weakling and weasel is typical of politics in general, and of Harpo's Tories in particular. This clown could not even deal honourably with a flake like David Orchard without lies and betrayal. His Belinda sojourn tells us more than we need to know about him.
He is indeed a disgrace in the eyes of most Canadians; as such, he ought to remain with the Tories, where his disreputable self will do the public a favour via truth-in-advertising.
Posted by: JC | 2009-12-11 8:53:19 PM
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