I was happy that Rona Ambrose had been kicked out the the Environment portfolio, until I heard about his lovely replacement, blowhard John Baird.
The thinking, is that the purpose of this appointment will be to sic a vicious bulldog (Baird) on Stephane Dion when he brings up the environment in the House Commons. Here is what Garth Turner has to say:
Seems to me this is a sad day for the environment. Not that we’ll miss Rona, but because we have Commons pit bull John Baird stuffed into this critical role so PMSH can sic him on Stephane Dion. That’s the apparent goal here - to score points on a political enemy, rather than do what needs to be done in this year when climate change has us all wondering where the snow went.
And it’s a sad day, too, because the man who should be environment minister - Bob Mills, perhaps the only Tory with the credentials to actually do the job - is cooling his heels on the back benches. Shame.
I'm not sure how this will play out, but it doesn't smell very good. It smacks of political opportunism from a government whose lackaddaisical attitude toward the environment is obvious and unlikely to change in terms of intention. People do not be deceived.
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