Hot off the Press!!
Less than one day after Gary Doer resigned from the Premiership of Manitoba in the middle of his term, Prime Minister Stephen Harper named him as Canadian ambassador-designate to Washington.
This is interesting. As I noted in my blog post on Ms. Sarah Palin, it is not uncommon for those in either the public or private sectors to leave their jobs before their terms of office end. I, for one, do not call these persons "quitters" and as far as I can ascertain no-one has called Premier Doer a quitter. He has been widely praised in fact for his past service, which praise seems to be well warranted. Ms. Palin's decision to leave her Governorship was not as well received by observers.
It is interesting to note the timing of the appointment. Apparently, Premier Doer and Prime Minister Harper have been chatting for over two months "on topics ranging from hockey to politics" before the offer was made. Premier Doer's resignation came on Thursday, the offer on Friday. Was Premier Doer's decision to resign motivated by the "greener pastures" of being Ambassador to the United States, or did the offer come as a complete surprise a day after he stepped down? Unclear - you decide.
Finally, Premier Doer was a New Democratic politician. The Harper Conservative government sits on the other side of the political spectrum. I am not sure how Doer's N.D.P. principles on the environment or Canada's military involvement will be reconciled with the Conservative party's very different views on these issues. But as Doer himself concedes he is now "working for the Canadian prime minister".
And so it goes in Canadian politics.
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Doer's appointment was not really risky; he wouldn't take that job unless he was willing to represent the Canadian position as defined by the Harper government. The timing cleverly superseded the reaction to Harper's patronage appointments of Conservative cronies to the Senate.
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