The Globe and Mail

Before anything else, let's all hail the long, long overdue promotion of Diance Ablonczy. Her exclusion from cabinet always struck me as one of Harper's pettiest moves, especially because it's never quite been clear what his problem with her is. Presumably, it's that she was a Manning loyalist; maybe he was creeped out by the fact that she actually kind of seems like a female version of Preston. Whatever it was, now that he's let it go, maybe we'll eventually see her in something more challenging.

Speaking of holding grudges, I'm not saying that Peter MacKay is in Defence for that reason; Harper must think he's at least somewhat capable of handling it, since a second minister completely bombing out there (no pun intended) would hurt the whole government. But it may be a side benefit. If I'm a Nova Scotia MP in a potentially vulnerable riding, being the guy responsible for Afghanistan is probably not my first choice.

Revenue is the softest of soft landing places, but it's still a little surprising Gordon O'Connor didn't wind up at Veterans Affairs. If there's one constituency he'd play well with, surely it's that one.
 

Now that this is over with, is it about the right time to file a missing person's report on Tony Clement? Harper evidently didn't dislike him enough to move him, but I won't hold my breath waiting for him to let his health minister actually start doing stuff, either.

It was pointed out earlier to me by a colleague that we now have a Foreign Affairs Minister who's not comfortable speaking English. This would probably bother me more if there wasn't a chance that we'll soon have a prime minister who fits the same description.

I'm not a fan of cabinet by quota, but wow...that's a lot of dudes. Then again, when Josee Verner is the best female minister you can think of for a promotion, your options are evidently pretty limited.

This would all be a little easier to get excited about if anyone was under the illusion most of these people - as opposed to PMO - will now be running their departments. An obvious point, but still a fair one.

The real question of the day: Whither the "rock star of Canadian politics?" Now that Ablonczy's cracked cabinet, "Rockin' Rob" is surely due. I can feel it.