Wall must end cabinet old boys’ club
Thursday’s cabinet shuffle was all about replacing the bellowing baritone of former finance minister Ken Krawetz.
It should have been about more.
For a party wanting to expand its tent, replacing middle-aged men with more middle-aged men isn’t exactly a great leap forward.
In fairness, perhaps Brad Wall is doing the best he can with what he currently has to work with.
Four of the eight female Saskatchewan Party MLAs running for re-election — Donna Harpauer, Nancy Heppner, Christine Tell and Jennifer Campeau — are already in cabinet.
The premier also noted that Lloydminster MLA Colleen Young (who won the seat of former MLA Tim McMillan, giving the Sask. Party 10 women in the current caucus) has been promoted to treasury board.
That’s pretty comparable with the similarly large caucuses of former NDP premier Roy Romanow’s first two terms (11 and 10 women in caucus; five and four women in cabinet) and arguably better than Lorne Calvert’s two terms (eight and seven women in caucus; four and six women in cabinet).
Moreover, while not exactly a vast improvement, there are now 12 Sask. Party women nominated to run — two more than in 2011.
At least one of them — Tina Beaudry-Mellor (Regina University), who has been a political science sessional instructor at the University of Regina — would seem to have an excellent chance at cabinet, should she win her seat in a re-elected Sask. Party government.
Also, the school board experience of Lisa Lambert (Saskatoon Churchill-Wildwood), Bronwyn Eyre (Saskatoon Stonebridge-Dakota) and Young might put them in good stead for cabinet roles.
That said, Shelley Jones failed to unseat Warren Michelson in Moose Jaw North. And the Sask. Party postponed Eyre’s nomination for three months so insiders could attempt to run a man against her who wasn’t even a party member.
Evidently, this party could be more welcoming to women.
Finally, while a cabinet minister’s performance is subjective, all four female Sask. Party cabinet ministers have had their struggles. To promote a woman seen as under-performing is pandering to the concept of gender equality.
That said, one might also quibble with some of Wall’s male appointments.
Don McMorris, replacing Krawetz as deputy premier, would seem a popular choice with Wall and the rest of caucus. But one wonders if his brash and combative style in the assembly is much different from Krawetz’s.
Herb Cox seems like a fine gentleman. And there is no doubt that his concern about invasive species like the zebra mussels will be helpful as environment minister.
But Cox’s hesitation Thursday to declare his belief in human-caused global warming won’t help Wall in convincing the public that his shuffle was about developing a different, broader perspective for his government. (In fairness, Cox said he was open-minded about the warming issue and said “those are the kinds of things I want to talk to my officials about and find out where we’re at as far as the science goes.”)
In appointing Kevin Doherty to finance, Wall clearly overlooked betterperforming ministers like Don Morgan, Dustin Duncan and Jim Reiter (who did receive added responsibilities as minister responsible for Sasktel).
Even stranger, Wall cited Doherty’s strong relationship with stakeholders — something those in the film industry might dispute from his time as culture minister.
That said, Doherty did seem to settle and grow in the advanced education portfolio (which will now be handled by former environment minister Scott Moe).
And Doherty, a former Sask-Power vice-president and pharmaceutical company executive, might truly be better suited to the more corporate nature of the finance portfolio.
But as another male whose ties to Wall go back to their days in college and as ministerial assistants in the former Grant Devine Progressive Conservative government, Doherty’s appointment risks further enhancing the perception that the province is being run by Wall’s old-boys club.
This takes us back to the problem for Wall — to demonstrate his is a truly inclusive government.
Encouraging more women to run and promoting them to senior ministerial roles would help combat this problem.
Sure, past governments had similar struggles, but the Devine government introduced the first woman cabinet minister and first woman deputy premier.
Romanow failed in his 1987 promise for 50 per cent women candidates, but the NDP did have two female finance ministers and a female deputy leader.
And today, 50 per cent of current NDP leader Cam Broten’s candidates are women.
Wall needs to do better.