HANNAFORD: Volunteers needed to go down with the ship

At first blush, a cabinet shuffle tomorrow — as multiple sources now claim will take place — invites the familiar comparison of rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic. Even Prime Minister Trudeau, borne along as he always is on an ego the size of the ill-fated liner, must realize that.The cynics among us might well ask then, to what end?Well, to this end. If Mr. Trudeau can still appoint cabinet ministers, he still has power, that much power anyway. Everybody can see that and anybody who accepts the post, has just publicly kissed his ring. So in addition to power, he has visible support. The larger the shuffle — and the CBC is floating the idea that as many as ten people will be involved — the more visible support there is.The question is, who is he going to get?.No Liberal government cabinet post for Carney after talks break down.Notably Mark Carney has withdrawn his interest. As the head of not one national bank but two, Carney thought about monetary theory at an elevated level; his involvement could have made up for the prime minister's disinterest in doing so. Not that he was in Parliament anyway, but one can safely assume that having taken the measure of Mr. Trudeau, he has no further interest in being so..Watch Trudeau: ‘I don’t think about monetary policy’.Notably the experienced minister François-Philippe Champagne, to whom the finance portfolio would naturally have come after Ms. Freeland resigned, also asked that the poisoned chalice should pass from him.In other words, the mugshots tomorrow will tell us much about the durability of the Trudeau government.If Trudeau persuades credible people to work with him, that helps him.If not, well best believe the mainstream media, all of which have reported on little other Ottawa news this week, than how many Liberal MPs are publicly repudiating the prime minister.Having been told so many times that he can’t last long, it’s not surprising that this is what so many people now think. But if its Trudeau feeding-frenzy the mainstream media overstated its case, it would hardly be the first time.It is all very well to report how many Liberal MPs are saying the prime minister should go, but it is noticeable that precious few of these malcontents have actually put their names to their rejection of the PM.That matters. What these people want is for Mr. Trudeau to ‘do the decent thing for the party’ which translates in both official languages as ‘jump overboard but we want to stay in the lifeboat.’The prime minister shows no sign of doing that. Yet they still won’t own their rejection of him. Of such principled stuff are Liberal MPs made.Now, there does have to be a shuffle. There's nothing fake about that. Ministries must have ministers to give legal effect to the work of civil servants.And as of this week, there are ministers needed; the prime minister has two fresh vacancies to fill, those of Housing Minister Sean Fraser who left politics for family reasons and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who on Monday quit before she was fired.Several ministers are also doing double duty. Indeed, Dominic LeBlanc as of this writing has three portfolios, finance, public safety and intergovernmental affairs… how busy can one man be?There is therefore plenty an excellent opportunity to move people around, demand loyalty and portray wide support.The question that will be answered tomorrow is this: With their own reputation to consider, will anyone of talent or experience actually sign on as a steward on this sinking ship?

HANNAFORD: Volunteers needed to go down with the ship

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