Now that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has named his cabinet, other leadership positions within the House of Commons will soon emerge. I suspect by the end of the week, for example, we might learn who gets to be a Parliamentary Secretary. One who will not be a PS is Guy Lauzon (left), the former Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture. Lauzon today was named the chair of the Conservative national caucus, succeeding Rahim Jaffer, who was defeated in the last election.
The Conservatives are the only one of the parties in Parliament whose caucus chair is appointed by the leader. Every other caucus elects its own leader.
Also today: Opposition leader Stéphane Dion annnounced some leadership positions within his own caucus, namely:
• Ralph Goodale and Marlene Jennings continue their roles as House Leader and Deputy House Leader respectively.
• Rodger Cuzner takes up new responsibilities as the Liberal Whip, succeeding Karen Redman, who also went down to to defeat in the Oct. 14 election. Marcel Proulx is the deputy whip.
• In the Senate, Senator Jim Cowan will lead the Liberals and Senator Claudette Tardif will be his deputy. Senator Jim Munson is the Liberal whip in the Senate.