From bad to no better

I'm not sure when a severe case of foot-in-mouth disease became a job requirement for the chair of the aboriginal affairs committee. But Stephen Harper's second choice after Maurice Vellacott is one of the few MPs who may be even better known for his embarrassing comments, even as a rookie in Parliament:

Rookie Tory MP Colin Mayes, who recently advocated jailing reporters who write stories the government doesn't like, was named as the Conservatives' pick to succeed Vellacott as the committee chairman.

But for those wondering whether anybody more qualified showed interest in being appointed instead, at least Harper can't be faulted on that front:

As for inserting Mayes in the hot seat, Hill said the B.C. MP is the only Tory on the aboriginal affairs committee who wanted the post.

In a sense, it's surprising that Harper hasn't done more to cover his weak spots by ensuring that he'd have at least one relatively well-reputed MP to take the lead on a committee where his party was bound to draw fire. And it of course speaks very poorly for the party's interest in aboriginal issues that nobody else seems to want to take the lead.

But with neither Harper nor his party having put any apparent thought into the committee, it'll at least be amusing to see whether Mayes can manage to talk his way out of the job even faster than Vellacott did.