Column: Joe Morinville

I know it was 10 days ago that Diamond Jim Prentice announced his new cabinet and you already read all there is to read about all of that going on with the PCs, but you ain’t read my thoughts yet.

1 I’m not sure that Jeff Johnson was the best Minister of Education we’ve ever had in Alberta, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see what kind of a job Gordon Dirks does with the thing. He’s got lots of experience with the Holy Bible, I hear, but he used to be a school principal so maybe he’ll be as good with school books as he is the Good Book.

2 Speaking of Jeff Johnson – he got to stick around and look after us seniors. I was surprised Rick McIver got to stick around, but I suspect Johnson will be well into being a senior before Lukaszuk would get a cabinet post under Mr. Prentice.

3 I don’t know what to make out of Maureen Kubinec getting Culture and Tourism, but now that she’s got it maybe she could spend a little time touring this town a little more often than she has lately. Might not hurt her to open an office here, too. Barrhead and Westlock are great places, I’m sure, but if Morinville’s part of your turf – you ought to spend a little time standing on it.

4 Speaking of time, it took no time at all for Danielle Smith to put her two cents worth of opinion out about the new cabinet. She was not too happy that 75% of Prentice’s new Cabinet served under Redford and that the new Finance Minister was the most frequent flyer when they found out about all them free plane rides that did in the old Premier.

5 Raj Sherman and Brian Mason also took shots at the new group of politicians. Sherman said it was an old boys’ club, which he couldn’t start because you need six sitting MLAs to start one. Mason said the cabinet was so lame it would have to be shot if it was a horse. None of his lefty friends called him on his politically incorrect statement. Selective outrage.

6 When I read that Stephen Mandel was the new Minister of Health, I got sick, which is kind of funny when you think about it. That night I dreamt that Mandel’s first decision was to build 20 new hospitals and get Daryl Katz to pay for them instead of the taxpayers. Now that’d be a switch, eh?

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