The new Chief of Staff for Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a Bay Street executive named Nigel Wright. The spin according to Jane Taber, which ironically I agree with, is that the government needs to shift its focus to the economy. Canada's economic performance in this recession is the Conservative Party's greatest strength, and this is intended to shine a light on their strong point. Given that I am now predicting the government to fall on its next budget (or possibly its next economic update), the economy is going to be front and center in the next campaign. It is absolutely the smart move to appoint a Chief of Staff who has detailed knowledge of market machinations.
This is a fantastic appointment, and I applaud Mr. Harper for appointing the ideal candidate given the current political climate. Bravo!
Harper is confusing. He destroyed the reputation of Harvard elitists and now he hires one.
ReplyDeleteI'm beginning to think Harper does not mean what he says. He just says stuff at any given moment for political advantage. I hope I am wrong.
What the CPC did when they defined Ignatieff is good politics.
ReplyDeleteWe don't know anything about Nigel Wright other than he's a director at the Manning Center, and the Managing Partner at Onex Corporation. Thats not much of a public profile to judge him on.
Calling him an elitist simply because he attended Harvard is a pretty shallow, superficial criticism.
The coalition and media will try to spin this new guy is an elitist.
ReplyDeleteThere are two kinds of elitists, the ones Baird was talking about and ones with brains, like the one hired by the PM.
I won't call the guy elitist, even if he is part of a group that defines themselves as such.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great appointment, and I will defend it.
I never heard of him before now and I hope he does a good job.
ReplyDeleteGotta love the anonymous posts that slander & smear with no balls to own up to what you've said. He sounds like a smart man and one that will benefit Canada...which is the object of all this.
ReplyDeleteMr Wright is exactly what this government and Canada needs right now:
ReplyDelete'One would have to go back to Derek Burney – an accomplished diplomat – to find someone who was as familiar with rubbing elbows with the internationally powerful as Mr. Wright.
One would have to go back to fellow blogger Norman Spector – an accomplished senior civil servant in Ontario, British Columbia and federally – to find someone with the management experience.
One would have to go back to Stanley Hartt – a partner at Stikeman and future chairman of Macquarie Capital Markets – for someone as deeply rooted in the business community.
That the three skill sets are combined in one high-flying, business managing, former PMO staffer who is a director of the Manning Centre is extraordinary. The fact he took the pay cut to take the job, more so...'
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/andrew-steele/nigel-wright-is-cut-from-different-cloth/article1724874/
Might have the elitist comments by Mr. Biard been intentional, expecting media attention when Mr. Wright's announcement was made. I'm telling you PM Harper has got to be one of the greatest strategist in the world.
ReplyDeleteIgnatieff did a number on himself, the CPC were able to provide front row seating.
ReplyDeleteHe promised to not repeat the mistakes of Dion or follow the Chretien policies.
He betrayed his own convictions and dumbed down his ideas to swallow the wedge politics of Graves-Donolo cultural war.
In 2005 he praised George Bush, Britain referring to American exceptionalism.
He chided Liberalism and their failure to pay the note and blame the Americans.
He was a Liberal not seeking a political office and was critical of failed Liberal policies.
Today he is a shell, pandering to special interest NGO's, using wedge politics based on gender, race and region.
The difference is the Liberals could afford to smear and destroy their opponents in the 1990's with large corporate donations and a lack of rebuttal from radio or internet.
Times have changed and the Liberals are now on the endangered party list like the extinct PC and Rhinos for not listening.