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Who’s in your coalition fantasy cabinet?

Now that Parliament has given us a gift-wrapped constitutional crisis, it’s tempting to shake the box and guess what it contains.

Let’s make a couple of assumptions: Harper loses a vote of confidence on the economic update, and Governor General Michaelle Jean accepts the Liberal/NDP offer to form a government. What would the coalition cabinet look like?

Two more assumptions: The coalition, as a cost-saving gesture, cuts the cabinet from 40 portfolios to 30 or so. The NDP, with a third of the coalition MPs, gets 10.

Which New Democrats ought to go into the cabinet, and in what jobs? And since this is the equivalent of fantasy hockey, let’s put a shameless B.C. bias into our speculations.

First, though, the easterners. Obviously, Jack Layton should be deputy prime minister, whoever the Liberals pick as PM, but let’s put him into Environment also.

His wife Olivia Chow is a natural for Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism. Joe Comartin looks good for Justice. Tom Mulcair will shake up Finance and cheer up Quebec.

Now the British Columbians, women first: Let’s put Dawn Black in National Defence, and Libby Davies in Health. Jean Crowder will do fine in Indian Affairs and Northern Development. Denise Savoie goes to Transportation, Infrastructure, and Communications.

For International Trade, let’s assign Peter Julian. And Nathan Cullen can go to Natural Resources and Energy.

Those 10 Dippers would add a wonderfully surreal look to the coalition front bench, while inducing visible nausea in the leader of the Conservative Opposition – whoever that turns out to be.

The Hook invites your suggestions for members of the Coalition Fantasy Cabinet – Liberals, New Democrats, even Blocquistes.


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