Cabinet shuffles are more style than substance, writes Andrew Cohen,

Stephen Harper has done what all prime ministers do when their governments are in trouble: rearrange faces. Historically, cabinet shuffles are more style than substance, and here the prime minister honours a venerable tradition.

For all the breathless claims — the biggest realignment of ministers in recent years, the infusion of youth, the ascent of women — the new cabinet is about the messengers, not the message.

Had Harper wanted to signal a shift on reducing the deficit, he would have dropped Jim Flaherty, an able public servant. Had he wanted a shift in foreign policy — less harsh rhetoric, less megaphone diplomacy — he would have dropped John Baird.

Had Harper wanted a new approach to natural resources, he would have moved the bumptious Joe Oliver, who has a penchant for “opening up a mouth,” as they say in Jewish Canada. Had he wanted to signal a new sensitivity to his restive backbench, he would have dropped Peter Van Loan, the swaggering, unpopular House leader. (And appointed Michael Chong, a principled and creative advocate of private members.)

In managing the economy, foreign policy and parliamentary affairs, then, Harper isn’t interested in change. He thinks the problem is packaging.

So he tries to put a cheerful, youthful and feminine face on his government. Gone are those troublesome old men like the hapless Vic Toews and the crusty Gordon O’Connor, a former soldier with the charm of a drill sergeant.

Both will not be missed. But Peter Kent, the congenial Minister of the Environment, will. His bad luck was to be chief salesman of an unsustainable policy on global warming. He was more skeptical of the climate-deniers than he let on, and was a supporter of national parks.

In Harper’s campaign to sideline greying white males, the muchtravelled Julian Fantino was demoted to Minister of Veterans Affairs. In this minor portfolio he can do little harm, though his capacity to try should not be underestimated.

With many of yesterday’s folks gone, the youth corps arrives. Behold, the new face of the Conservatives: Chris Alexander (Immigration), Shelly Glover (Heritage), Michelle Rempel (Western Development), Kellie Leitch (Labour and Status of Women), Candice Bergen (Social Development), KerryLynne Findlay (National Revenue).

They will join Rona Ambrose (Health) and Leona Aglukkaq (Environment), who have been promoted. It’s unlikely that either will make a difference; neither is an engine of imagination or champion of women’s rights. Will Aglukkaq, who was impassive in Health, become an activist at Environment? Ambrose is so uncomfortable with abortion that she refused to comment on Henry Morgentaler’s death.

Is Alexander, the thrusting former diplomat who comes with a strong resumé and a high sense of self-regard, going to outshine his predecessor at Immigration, Jason Kenney?

What explains such appointments is loyalty and geography, not independence of thought. As a parliamentary secretary, Alexander was ready to defend the government, particularly on the F-35 jet fighter purchase and more recently on the payments to Senator Mike Duffy, even when he was baldly contradicted. Pierre Poilievre, who landed in Democratic Reform, has the same confidence. Endowed with the wisdom of youth, both are always right.

Leitch arrived in Parliament when the Conservatives cruelly disowned the incumbent in her riding, Helena Guergis. When Leitch talks of the rights of women, she would do well to remember that she is where she is because a woman was drummed out of the party.

If it’s hard to see change here, the reason is that Harper has always had one man-government, extraordinary, if not unprecedented, in our history. The PM is the sun and the moon; in his universe, there’s no room for vaulting successors or regional barons, which is why this cabinet has almost no stars.

Indeed, it’s hard to think of a government with fewer luminaries. Harper has no Paul Martin, Lloyd Axworthy or Brian Tobin, as did Jean Chrétien. Or Dan Mazankowski, Kim Campbell or Marcel Masse, as did Brian Mulroney. Or Allan MacEachen, Don Jamieson, Marc Lalonde or Eugene Whelan, as did Pierre Trudeau. No Davie Fulton, C.D. Howe or Chubby Power. A skeptic like Herb Gray would have no chance of getting into this cabinet.

The one politician with national stature is Jason Kenney, perhaps Canada’s most successful minister of Immigration. Rare in this crowd, he has his own views and a sense of humour. Curiously, he may well be less effective, if not visible, as Minister of Employment and Social Development.

At the end of the day, the challenge for this flagging government is not its cabinet but its prime minister. He can surround himself with happy faces, but he will allow them no authority or latitude. That isn’t his way.

Harper remains a brilliant strategist but a dour and aloof politician, without the charm of his predecessors. He remains an emblem of the politics of resentment who can win again, and may, if he can continue to demonize and divide the opposition.

So the story today isn’t about Alexander, Ambrose and Aglukkaq. They are bit players in summer repertory theatre. The fortunes of the Conservatives will rise or fall with Stephen Harper. As always, it’s about him. Andrew Cohen is a professor of journalism and international affairs at Carleton University. Email: andrewzcohen@yahoo.ca