The difficult tenure of Julian Fantino as Minister of Veterans Affairs ended Monday when he was replaced by Erin O’Toole, a lawyer and former member of the Canadian Forces.
The shuffle, which was not announced by the office of Prime Minister Stephen Harper until a surprise swearing-in ceremony had taken place, was designed to put an end to mounting tensions between the government and Canada’s veterans – a constituency the Conservatives have traditionally counted in their corner.
I could dance but that would be unseemly. Ah, what the hell.
That this is a long time coming would be putting it mildly. The Coward of Caledonia has at last come a cropper. His dishonourable conduct in handling Caledonia, his general bullying manner as police chief of Toronto and Commissioner of the OPP, made him unfit for service in the federal cabinet. The man who thought he could silence Gary McHale thought nothing of trying to dismiss the concerns of veterans and their families. When tact and empathy were needed he provided only arrogance and contempt.
Since his election to Parliament on the Tory ticket, the political career of Julian Fantino has been a blot on the copybook of the Conservative Party. There are certainly worse characters than Fantino in federal politics, though none quite so uniquely crass. There is a fine art to wielding power and the most important aspect, at least in Canadian politics, is to be discreet. Tom Mulcair has a reputation for being angry Tom, he's smart enough to keep his temper away from journalists, old ladies and small children.
Given Fantino's remarkable vanity it's unlikely he'll stand for re-election in 2015. Simmering on the back benches isn't his style. Unfortunately his post-political career is likely to be crowned with the usual circuit of directorships, consultancy contracts and Chamber of Commerce speechifying. This is a moment of justice but it is an exceedingly small one.
The Coward of Caledonia. Oh, that's a good one. I hope he wears it for the rest of his life.
Posted by: Copinacus | Tuesday, January 06, 2015 at 09:19 AM
But now shudder that he's supposedly in charge of cybersecurity and CSE!!! One trusts only nominally.
Mark
Ottawa
Posted by: markottawa | Tuesday, January 06, 2015 at 03:51 PM
Fantino is not a blot on the CPC playbook but the most pure example of it being implemented.
Posted by: Cytotoxic | Tuesday, January 06, 2015 at 04:33 PM