Cabinet Sworn In

Yesterday, I was in Victoria to see Cabinet sworn in at Government House. It was a very nice ceremony, and I had a good time chatting with some people I hadn't seen in a while. Some random thoughts on Cabinet:

1. Congratulations to Mary Polak. General wisdom says the Ministry of Children and Families is a very tough one, and can be a graveyard for political careers. But Mary is a hard worker, and very smart, and I think she will surprise a lot of people with some success in this portfolio.

2. Rich Coleman was very happy to be staying in Housing and Social Development. He feels like he is making good progress in the ministry and wanted to continue his work.

3. As soon as the first name and post was announced--George Abbott to Aboriginal Affairs--it was clear the Premier was planning some big changes.

4. I would complain about the Vancouver-centric nature of this cabinet except that both Langley MLAs have senior portfolios, so that would be a bit hypocritical. I'd be choked if I were from Surrey, BC's second-largest and fastest-growing city, with only Kevin Falcon representing them.

5. Speaking of Falcon, his promotion to Health Services caused a big murmur in the crowd. He was in Transportation for six years, and did a great job (I'll defer to history buffs like Curtis E. Bear and Polly Sigh about where Falcon stacks as a Transportation Minister. Was he Flyin' Phil 2.0?).

6. Shirley Bond will do an excellent job in Transportation. Hey, on her fifth day, she'll already be opening the Golden Ears Bridge. She works fast.

7. I don't envy political staffers. At the announcement, they each received a sealed envelope with their new Ministry and job assignment in it. Then they had to wait to find out who the Minister would be. What a weird way to start the next phase of your career.

8. I was pleased for Randy Hawes, who finally made it in. He and his wife Alma are wonderful people. And I got a kick out of "Randy's Rules" on that 100-mile diet TV show.

9. I realized I was reading too many political websites when a person walked by me with a name tag that said, "Lesley du Toit," and I immediately thought, "It's the woman from Public Eye Online!"

10. Blair Lekstrom seems too cool to be a Cabinet Minister. After the ceremony, he changed his clothes, hopped on his motorbike, and rode off into the distance.

11. It was a bit awkward to see some of the MLAs who missed out or were dropped from cabinet. It must make for some tricky interpersonal dynamics behind closed caucus doors.

12. Rich's 11-month-old grandson, Gabriel, would clap furiously when the crowd applauded, much to the visible mirth of Vaughn Palmer.

13. Will Mike de Jong's new post as Attorney General spark the return of the much-missed Twitterer @fakemikedejong?

14. A note for my Surrey friends: I saw Dave Hayer three times yesterday but he never offered me a single business card.

15. The new Coastal Celebration ferry is beautiful.