Harper Shuffles the Deck

First things first, Happy New Years readers.  To start things off, Prime Minister Harper (I never get tired of saying that), has shuffled his cabinet members to include Peter Kent to take over the environment portfolio and Julian Fantino to become the minister of state for seniors.

This won't mean much to the added voter but it may be influential for a 2011 election in the voter-rich ridings of the Greater Toronto Area.

The Conservative Party has struggled to gain a firm hold of the 905 area surrounding Toronto and has gained virtually not seats in urban areas of Canada's largest city.  Nevertheless, with more high profile candidates and the recent victory of Rob Ford as Toronto's new mayor, Harper's political future may be looking brighter in the golden horseshoe.

PM Harper commented: "Canadians have just come through a year during which the rewards of prudent financial stewardship and of appropriate, well-timed stimulus measures have yielded dividends in jobs and growth."

Personally, I'd prefer they cut the stimulus off completely since government stimulus does nothing but redistribute money from one sector to another without necessarily producing wealth creation or economic growth.  However, Harper has to be seen as doing something politically in the eyes of voters and the media regardless of its real effects on economic activity.

That said, Canada is outperforming most of the western world and is by far one of the most stable countries in the OECD.  Our leadership is steady, calm, reassuring, and market oriented.  This is all attractive to investors and entrepreneurs looking to get a return on capital and investment.  It's quite the opposite in the US where unpredictability is wreaking havoc on the economy as employers have no clue what health care costs, taxes, and government expansion may result in come 2011 or 2012.

Once again, well done Mr. Harper.