Let Stockwell be Stockwell

I’m lucky to have a truly great MP in Dr Carolyn Bennett – it made my decision in our recent election pretty easy.

Partisan friends aside, I’ve never before spoken to so many people utterly bored with the political process, unhappy with their choices, contemplating strategic voting and other measures to vote for the lesser of all evils than actually *for* somebody.

The result: Not a whole heap of change. On the eve of an exciting and historic US election, it’s all a reminder of just how much we could use some fresher faces and a new kind of politics in our own system.

We do have a new cabinet though – so perhaps there’s still a chance for a shuffling of tactics as well. While he’s called for more reaching out and a team approach towards competence - the looming question going forward is whether or not the Prime Minister will give his Ministers more independence to be creative with their portfolios than lead with the firm, controlled, highly centralized grip we have seen since first taking office.

As a result of that centralized approach, most people seem to know Harper and what he stands for quite well, but so many of the rest of the players in the Conservative Party remain relatively unknown on the national stage (a couple newsmakers a la Baird, Bernier aside).

Not that I’m expecting it – but I’d personally love for him to go beyond the new job titles and really shake things, loosen the strings on his crew, and open us up to all the characters new and old. Radio personality Peter Kent, for example, finally gets his turn in office – let’s give him a good test to see whether is diplomatic skills can match his ambitions; We’ve got a rookie MP (Nunavut) tapped for Minister of Health – let’s get to know more about Leona Aglukkaq; And in an era of geopolitical races against time, we have another rookie MP (Oakville) tapped for Natural Resources – do we not want to learn more about her ideas for future directions in uncertain times.

Moral of the story: The people have spoken and have given Harper another minority, but are increasingly disengaged and just plain bored. Let’s add some excitement to the game and let our ministers be ministers for a change.