The federal cabinet is too big according to St. Albert’s MP.
Brent Rathgeber, MP for Edmonton-St. Albert, offered this analysis of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s recent cabinet shuffle: “all sizzle and no steak.”
“I think it was a cosmetic change at best,” Rathgeber said of Harper’s early July minister swap.
The cabinet is now 39 ministers, which includes 12 ministers of state. Rathgeber noted some older MPs have been changed for “young, photogenic” ministers.
The change also saw more women promoted to minister, something Rathgeber said is designed to appeal to a target demographic Harper’s Conservatives are struggling with – young women. Meanwhile, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau is doing well in the polls, so Rathgeber said some of the female appointments are designed to try and fend off Trudeau’s rising numbers.
Still, Rathgeber said the women who have been made ministers will likely bring vigour to their new portfolios.
“I think they’re very qualified. I think they’re very bright,” he said.
The problem with having a 39-member cabinet is that at such a large size, it’s more of a representative body than a decision-making one, Rathgeber said.
“You simply cannot make decisions in a room that large,” Rathgeber said. “The cabinet is not a decision-making body.”
Instead, the cabinet is used to balance minorities, genders, regions and urban and rural divides across the country.
“You see those considerations are much more important than merit,” Rathgeber said of patterns in the appointments.
The dozen minister of state positions are another concern for Rathgeber, who noted they assist a senior minister with a specific aspect of the senior minister’s portfolio but don’t have their own department. He said appointing ministers of state is simply part of an attempt to increase the size of cabinet.
“I really question their usefulness in anything other than communicating the government’s message,” he said.
Positions like the minister of state for western economic diversification go against what Rathgeber said is Conservative philosophy of leaving the market to sort itself out.
“Government shouldn’t be in business,” he said. He predicted some handouts to industry as the next election approaches.
Rathgeber said various departments that are split could be combined, reducing not only minister salaries but also staff and other costs.
The U.S. gets by with merely 15 secretaries of state, despite having nine times Canada’s population he noted.
In addition to the 39 cabinet ministers, there are also nearly 20 parliamentary secretary positions that will be appointed, Rathgeber said. Between cabinet ministers, parliamentary secretaries and committee chairs, that means a significant percentage of the Tory caucus have an additional position.
“By making the cabinet so big and making everything else big by necessary consequence … you create all these extra positions which people like because they carry with it a stipend and prestige, therefore contributing to party discipline which in my view is too strong and becoming counteractive to democracy because the government is able to impose its will with a very compliant caucus,” Rathgeber said.
