Monday, November 17, 2008

On critical thinking

The NDP has announced its shadow cabinet for the upcoming session of Parliament. But perhaps more interesting than any particular individual assignment is NDP's continued effort to frame the areas of discussion in Parliament rather than letting the Harper government dictate what topics deserve to be dealt with.

By way of comparison, the Libs' list of critics is based almost entirely on the Cons' framing of their own cabinet - on a quick first look, the only difference that I noticed was the inclusion of a single critic for "Water". And the end result is that every effort by the Harper government to change their cabinet composition toward a more conservative bent (such as the change from "social development" to "skills development") is only mirrored by the Libs - while the issues that Harper has chosen to marginalize receive no dedicated focus.

Within the NDP, on the other hand, the list of critic responsibilities is drawn up to emphasize issues which go far beyond Harper's chosen turf.

Needless to say, the Cons aren't likely to dedicate cabinet posts to "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual and Transgender Issues", "Housing, Homelessness and the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation", "Persons with Disabilities" or "Substance Abuse and Prostitution Issues" anytime soon. But NDP supporters concerned with those issues can rest assured that whether or not Harper would prefer to sweep their causes under the rug, they'll find a voice within the NDP caucus.

No comments:

Post a Comment