Western Producer staff
As a nation of congenital whiners, Canadians seem to rate such events as federal cabinet shuffles by asking a simple question: How badly did we (our economic class, our ethnic group, our city, our province, our region, whatever) get screwed this time? Who did better than us? So it was after last week’s federal cabinet remake.
Quebec separatists were sure their province’s influence was diminished. British Columbia’s chauvinists thought they had been snubbed. Ontario, and Metro Toronto, were outraged by their lack of power.
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This Canadian obsession with identifying slights from their government came to mind as Jon Gerrard, a rural Manitoban in cabinet, was talking about the West’s place in the ChrŽtien government.
Not surprisingly, Gerrard thinks the region has been blessed with influence, holding many of the cabinet jobs key to the western economy.
“I think this government and prime minister are sensitive to the West,” he said, shortly after being given added cabinet responsibility for overseeing the Western Economic Diversification program. “We will be able to work together.”
Gerrard’s evidence was that for a resource-based and export-dependent region, there are some cabinet jobs that are more important than others – agriculture, energy, mines and resources, foreign affairs to oversee international trade, and transport.
All these, in the current ChrŽtien cabinet, are held by Westerners – Ralph Goodale of Saskatchewan, Anne McLellan of Alberta, Lloyd Axworthy of Manitoba and David Anderson of British Columbia respectively.
To that list, add three more from Manitoba, B.C. and Alberta – Gerrard’s junior ministry responsibilities for WED and science, research and development; Raymond Chan’s junior ministry responsibilities for Asia-Pacific; and Joyce Fairbairn’s role as government leader in the Senate.
Given the region’s decision, west of Manitoba, to give the Liberal government few MPs in the last election, it is easy to argue that these are important regional representatives drawn from a small pool of potential cabinet material.
Yet the public image of the government continues to be one of being obsessed by Quebec and the unity issue while being neglectful of other regions.
Last week’s cabinet shuffle merely contributed to that image, since the biggest changes came when the prime minister unveiled a new Quebec cabinet team to lead the charge against Quebec separatism. New intergovernmental affairs minister StŽphane Dion spent almost all his first news conference on Quebec issues. The clear impression was left that the part of Canada which interests him lies between the Ottawa River and the eastern coast of the GaspŽ.
This obsession with Quebec likely never truly will be resolved, short of a dissolution of the country.
So no matter how many Westerners are in the cabinet with important portfolios, they have to learn to live and work in the shadow of The Question.
Now for those disposed to do it, that’s something to whine about.
