The Liberal government has given one of their most loyal foot soldiers a plum patronage appointment, says Blacklock’s Reporter..Former cabinet minister Ralph Goodale was given a $327,000-a year job as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom..Goodale was an eight-term Liberal MP who had previously criticized opponents for “partisan patronage.”.“Ralph Goodale’s decades of experience will continue to serve Canadians,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement, adding Goodale was a “trusted advisor.”.Conservative MP Michael Kram (Regina-Wascana), a first-time candidate who defeated Goodale in the 2019 campaign, wished him well in England..“On election night I said I wished Ralph Goodale all the best in the next chapter of his life, and it looks like that next chapter is high commissioner,” said Kram..“I know Justin Trudeau has appointed many Liberals, and if he had to appoint one to this position it might as well be Ralph Goodale. I wish him all the best.”.Goodale lost his riding by 7,176 votes. He was among eight Liberal cabinet ministers, parliamentary secretaries and Commons committee chairs defeated in 2019. The Party’s popular vote fell to 14% in Regina and 11% in Saskatoon..When he was an MP, Goodale condemned patronage appointments..“Canadians are worried about their jobs and their families yet the Conservatives are engaging in an orgy of pork-barrelling,” he told the Commons in 2009..“They are just butchering the taxpayers’ dollars to pump pork.”.Partisan patronage is exposed in virtually every ministry, Goodale told MPs in 2006..“Canadians are concerned by all these contradictions and double standards.”.Then, at his last Liberal caucus meeting in 2019, he told reporters: “There are thousands of Western Canadians that want to be heard and treated in an inclusive and respectful way.”.“People were obviously concerned about economic uncertainty. That was the issue raising the anxiety level across Western Canada. It will be very important for the government to provide the necessary reassurance.”.Goodale’s new assignment follows a string of Liberal appointments to diplomatic posts. Cabinet on April 14 named Ian McKay, former national director of the Liberal Party, as $190,00-a year ambassador to Japan..Retired Liberal MP Rodger Cuzner (Cape Breton-Canso, N.S.) last November 2 was appointed $148,000-a year consul in Boston. Former Liberal MP Bob Rae (Toronto Centre) last July 5 was named Canada’s $307,000-a year ambassador to the United Nations. And Phyllis Yaffe, a former Toronto Star director and longtime Liberal donor, in 2016 was appointed the $181,000-a year consul in New York City..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
