Cabinet posts for 39, power for few

The Toronto Star:

Remember Rob Moore and Rob Merrifield?

No, neither do we.

As the only two members of cabinet dropped in Stephen Harper’s shuffle last week, they best illustrate the anonymity in which a federal minister can labour in a bloated 39-member ministry.

The reality is that the Harper majority is being run by no more than 12 men — and, yes, they are all men — only half of whom are in his cabinet.

Beyond Harper, the real power on Parliament Hill is his chief of staff, Onex Corp. executive Nigel Wright, a man who has been given the luxury of spending the political capital of a majority.

He can now steer the government off the shoals of non-stop minority war into the realm of policy planning.

No Harper chief of staff ever had such power.

The most powerful minister under Harper is generally acknowledged to be Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, his reputation burnished by his work in electing new MPs in the GTA, as well as his standing among G8 finance ministers.

But many of this country’s real power brokers are not widely known by Canadians.

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