PONDERABLE
Did the NHL commissioner’s office really not know anything about the Chicago Black Hawks sex scandal?
TRUDEAU’S “GENDER PARITY” PROPENSITY
Of all Justin Trudeau’s hollow virtue signalling propensities, basing his cabinet gender split on Canada’s population being almost exactly 50/50 is the most flawed. Although there are traditional political considerations that come into play in cabinet selections, such as regional representation, the main criterion should always be the appointees’ qualifications, not their gender.
MPs are the people elected to govern us, so if Trudeau wants to use gender as a criterion, shouldn’t the cabinet reflect the female/male split in the house of commons, not an arbitrary 50/50? Because almost 1/3 of MPs are female, and assuming that the range of intelligence and competence within a group of 103 females and another of 235 males would be comparable, Trudeau can mount a perfectly reasonable argument for appointing 13 female ministers to his cabinet in the interest of gender fairness. But fairness and parity aren’t synonyms.
The problem with appointing 19 females instead of 13 is the probability that six of them aren’t as qualified as the six males whom were passed over. That this was the case in Trudeau’s cabinet choices over the past six years has been more than amply demonstrated. For example, the hapless Bardesh Chagger and Maryam Monsef being in Trudeau’s last cabinet while the highly effective Mark Holland and Steve MacKinnon were not was clearly the direct result of gender parity.
MORE OBSERVATIONS ON THE NEW CABINET
It is beyond human comprehension that Harjit Sajjan, easily the worst Minister of Defence to ever hold the portfolio, and arguably the most incompetent cabinet minister ever, is still in cabinet, even in a less impactful role. Similarly puzzling, given that the hallmark of both of their performances has been ineptness, is that Seamus O’Reagan and Melanie Joly remain ministers. (Joly has actually been promoted to foreign affairs, a post for which she has no apparent qualifications whatsoever.) Could it have anything to do with personal relationships the two have with the prime minister and his family?
But the most egregious appointment was Steven Guilbeault as minister of the environment snd climate change. Guilbeault is a self-proclaimed “radical pragmatist” (whatever that is, other than a perfect example of an oxymoron) who is on record as being against pipelines and the fossil fuels industry, and who’s actually been arrested for protest activity. The potential damage this appointment can do to the Canadian economy is appalling. The only possible saving grace is that we have a minority government. On the other hand, it’s far from certain that Jagmeet Singh would oppose any of Guilbeault’s “radical pragmatism.”
Trudeau was silent on why he felt the need for two additional cabinet ministers. Probably because it’s simply to provide safe parking spots for a couple of old retreads. (Carolyn Bennett and Bill Blair come to mind.) And in interviews after the swearing-in ceremony, both Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland evaded questions about why former astronaut Marc Garneau was booted from the inner circle. Could it be that the classy and accomplished Garneau objected to taking orders from non-elected and far less intelligent and principled PMO staffers?
SPORTS FANS SHOULD CARE ABOUT THE ROGERS FAMILY DISPUTE
The ugly dispute between Ed Rogers and his mother and sisters over control of the giant Rogers conglomerate is one of the most compelling internecine battles in Canadian business history; certainly the most interesting since the Eaton family debacle ended in the bankruptcy of the iconic Canadian department store chain in 1999. But the Rogers conflict is not just a major business story, it’s also a major sports story. Rogers owns the Toronto Blue Jays and the stadium in which they play, and has a 37.5% stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Maple Leafs, Raptors, Argonauts, Toronto FC and countless minor league teams.
Ed Rogers has a history of interfering in Rogers sports entities. In 2015 he callously and clumsily managed to jettison Paul Beeston, the immensely popular president of the Blue Jays. (Beeston, hired in 1976, was also the franchise’s first employee.) Rogers recently failed in an equally ham-fisted attempt to get rid of Raptors president Masai Ujiri, who coincidentally happens to be the most popular Toronto sports executive since Paul Beeston.
Sports fans should not just be curious about this turmoil, they should also be concerned. Should the fiasco’s catalyst, Ed Rogers, prevail, who knows what havoc he may wreak on the Toronto sports scene. A repeat of Harold Ballard’s reign as owner of the Maple Leafs is a distinct possibility.