Politics heating up the winter

For everyone who just can’t get enough of politics, the rest of this winter and the fastapproaching spring should be one big political storm after another. The storm’s certainly brewing in Ottawa over the SNC-Lavalin scandal while, closer to home, all of the nominations happening across the province have the makings of a spring provincial election.

This is not the kind of political weather that will keep political junkies indoors; this is the kind of weather that will have them heading out to coffee shops, diners, legions and other gathering spots. So much to talk about, so little time.

The SNC-Lavalin scandal will surely keep the federal Liberals in the hot seat right up until the highly anticipated fall federal election.

The Trudeau Liberals do have much to answer for and the and the opposition parties will surely be ripping at that open wound until all the votes are counted.

Here at home, all the political parties are in provincial election mode getting their political decks in order for an election that could come in April and, mixed right in with the choices voters have to make, on whatever date the election is held, is a decision on whether to stick with the first-past-thepost method of choosing the 27 members of the Provincial Legislature or shift to a mixed member proportional representation model going forward. Four main parties and potentially more than 100 candidates to hear from and ongoing debate on how our MLAs should be chosen, taken together, gives political observers lots of material for keeping the conversation going.

Of course, for those who have had enough of politics already, there’s still a whole lot of winter yet to avoid. A southern vacation, maybe?

MACAULAY HEADS HOME

And how about Lawrence MacAulay? A member of Parliament so popular that he has won re-election eight times in the Prince Edward Island riding of Cardigan, is heading home, in a sense. He is the new Minister of Veterans Affairs whose home base is in Charlottetown.

MacAulay moves from Federal Minister of Agriculture to become Veterans Affairs’ third minister in as many months.

This internal cabinet shuffle, involving three cabinet ministers, was brought on by last month’s resignation from cabinet of Jody Wilson-Raybould who had only become Veterans Affairs Minister in January, after Trudeau shuffled her out of the Justice ministry. Wilson-Raybould’s testimony before a House of Commons justice committee this week, suggesting she was pressured on the SNC-Lavalin file while serving as attorney general, has only ratcheted up the whole SNC-Lavalin scandal.

The scandal had become a distraction within Veterans Affairs with the former Justice Minister and Attorney General at its helm.

MacAulay, who has previously served as Secretary of State for Veterans Affairs, should be a calming influence in a department which really had nothing directly to do with the scandal that’s rocking the nation.