A PMO source says Prime Minister Harper will halve David Emerson's workload — he is both Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of International Trade (as well as carrying the regional portfolios of the 2010 Olympics and Pacific Gateway) — before Canada Day. That's next Tuesday.
Harper was in Québec today but he is back in Ottawa Wednesday. So we're on what passes for high alert here in an Ottawa that largely emptied itself of its federal politicians last week.
And on that note, if you haven't had the chance to read Barry Campbell's series in The Walrus, I recommend it. In the third and final installment in that magazine's June issue, he has this MP's-eye view of the rumour and speculation the press here have been involved in recently on this issue:
It’s not clear which is psychologically worse: getting bounced from Cabinet or being passed over for a position. Not being considered one of the stars is deeply embarrassing and hard to explain to family, friends, and supporters. Grown men and women, accomplished and respected in their fields before coming to Ottawa, are reduced to nervous, insecure children when the rumours start flying about a Cabinet shuffle. I got passed over, and I’m not sure I could have swallowed additional humiliations . . .
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