Energy policy very obviously ranks low on the Prime Minister's agenda.  Why else would he give the Natural Resources portfolio to someone who has (as far as I can tell) not one whit of experience in the oil patch, nor even a jot of familiarity with the nuclear or hydroelectric industries?  No doubt Christian Paradis is bright (he earned a master's degree in law from Laval, after all), but what other relevant qualifications does he demonstrate?

The Star calls him "one of the prime minister's favourite Quebec lieutenants."  Perhaps Mr. Paradis' home town helped him skate into the inner circle.  Thetford Mines, a town of just 25,000, was one of the top five finalists in last year's Hockey Day in Canada.  (Apparently it's also where Governor General Michaele Jean lived when she first emigrated to Canada, but somehow I think that factoid would hardly enchant Mr. Harper.)  Whatever, Mr. Paradis' favoured status has very little, if anything, to commend itself in terms of energy policy, either domestically or internationally.  If Mr. Harper is ever to make good on his overblown claim to being an energy superpower, he needs to do more than make nice with Quebec's premier.  All in all, today's entire cabinet "shuffle" strikes me as a great waste of energy.

Let's face it: Harper doesn't have a whole heck of a lot of talent to draw from for his Cabinet in the first place. 

If Paradis is from Thetford Mines maybe the government will finally do something about the deadly asbestos that we Canadians continue to export to the developing countries.  And for what?  To preserve a few hundred jobs in Thetford Mines?  Let's face it, the asbestos industry is a deadly one, and a dying one, so enough already.  Let's do the right thing and close it down.

But hang on, that's not energy, is it.  So Paradis will be allowed to skip over that critical issue -- unless maybe he becomes creative and establishes Thetford Mines as a possible place for green energy production (wind turbines anyone?)  I know a few hundred asbestos miners that would be better off employed elsewhere!

It is a favourite tactic of Harper's to appoint a weak or a young and naive Minister to a portfolio he wants to dominate.  What better way to prevent any dissent and to quietly control yet another aspect of governance. 

So, Peter McKay stays and Raitt goes down a notch or two.  Easier to punish women, I think.  Is the PM that scared of a Red Tory backlash that he can't demote McKay?  Seems crazy.  And yes, I agree, the energy & natural resources portfolio has been sadly neglected for the past 4 years under Harper.  The West will carry Canada economically but the feds seem not to care on a policy level.  Well, maybe we shouldn't be surprised.  Harper feels strongly that the federal government should get out of the way of provincial interests.  Maybe appointing weak ministers to NRCan is his way of doing it.