OTTAWA – The one thing most everyone agrees on is that Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be announcing a Cabinet shuffle early next week.
According to multiple reports, all ministers have been told to be in Ottawa this weekend and next week, meaning that the PM may have major changes in mind and not just some minor tweaking (Gordon O’Connor is certainly gone from National Defense, they say). But what will it mean for the two ministers overseeing the cable, radio, television and telecom industries?
Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, by any measure, has been a very successful minister who, in a very short time, has completely overhauled the way Canadian telecom operates by pushing hard for deregulation. He got his wish last week, actually. The Quebec (Beauce) minister, known for his entrepreneurial zeal and disdain for regulation in favour of market forces has been active on many other files in his ministry, too, and has been recognized by the Prime Minister as a rising star in the Conservative government.
He may stay put. He may be promoted. (Remember, this is not the days of the leaky Liberals where everyone knew what was going to happen in advance. This is the new Conservative government, where all the windows of the PMO are figuratively locked, painted shut and blacked out.) However, one source told Cartt.ca that Bernier’s insistence on forcefully sticking to his principles with regard to market economics – and pushing them onto his cabinet colleagues – is rubbing at least some ministers, as well as some in the Prime Minister’s Office, the wrong way.
Oda on the other hand, is largely acknowledged as a disappointment. As a Toronto-area MP, a woman and a visible minority, those qualities may well keep her in cabinet in some role, but the Ottawa folks we talked to are certain these are her last days as minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women.
She has seemingly accomplished little (especially when compared to Bernier), while alternately angering various culture groups from the TV crowd, to the cable guys to the museum folks. Her public appearances have been underwhelming, at best.
Her handling of the Canadian Television Fund crisis which was created by Shaw Communications’ and Videotron’s withdrawal of their mandated funding requirements earlier this year was viewed by most observers as a dithering response, and that she took far too long to finally deal with it. The issue is still unresolved, will take months more to put to rest, and most are still angry.
And last fall, she was forced to cancel a fundraising dinner after it was publicly revealed the event was being run by Canadian broadcasters, and just prior to the CRTC’s review of its conventional television policies. The optics, as they say, weren’t good.
Also last year she asked the CRTC to compile a report on changing broadcast technologies and their effect on the Canadian system but has done nothing public with it and made no comment on what she thinks of the industry or offered any insight on where she believes Canadian broadcasting should be headed.
Finally, at this June’s Banff International Television Fest, where thousands from around the world, including hundreds from Canada gather to talk TV and make deals, Oda addressed a crowd which was anticipating she might at last touch on some of the hot button issues facing the industry and her department. As a former CTV and TVO executive, many in the audience hoped this would be her coming out party, where she might detail some sort of vision on the future for Canadian television.
Instead, her flat, short, speech simply renewed the federal government’s contribution to the New Media Fund, a $29 million grant made over two years, while making obvious references to how our media landscape is changing. To say the crowd was disappointed is an understatement.
All that said, however, PM Harper has kept most ministers on a very short leash and other rookie cabinet members have struggled along with Oda. So, it’s difficult to lay all the blame for her performance completely at her feet.
As for Oda replacements, one name being bandied about is B.C. MP James Moore, a three-term but just 31-year-old former broadcaster who worked for CKST 1040 in Vancouver and 550 CKPG in Prince George. He is currently the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, and also the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics.
The other MP that sources told Cartt.ca is being considered as Heritage Minister is Calgary MP Jason Kenny. He is currently Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity, which falls under the Department of Canadian Heritage portfolio.
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