Since the Liberal leadership race ended, there hasn’t been a lot of political news to post on and it is nice to get a break from year end lists and Cabinet shuffle speculation to talk about…the Cabinet shuffle. Here’s the scorecard:

* John Baird – Environment
* Rona Ambrose – Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs
* Rob Nicholson – Justice
* Vic Toews – President of the Treasury Board
* Monte Solberg – Minister for Human Resources and Social Development
* Dianne Finley – Minister for Citizenship and Immigration
* Peter Van Loan – House leader
* Jason Kenney – Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity
* Gerry Ritz – Secretary of State for Small Business and Tourism
* Helena Guergis – Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Sport
* Christian Paradis – Secretary of State for Agriculture

The bottom four spots on that list seem to be the usual ballooning of the Cabinet we get before elections and represent four MPs who are likely being groomed for larger portfolios after the next election (should the Tories win). Paradis and Guergis are in vulnerable seats so this probably helps their re-election bids as well. If you take those four spots as young MPs being groomed for future Cabinet positions then, boy, does it ever suck to be James Moore this morning. Diane Ablonczy has also got to be feeling a bit jilted that another Calgary MP got a Cabinet spot before she did.

So that brings us to the shuffle part of this Cabinet shuffle. And it’s really a mulligan for Harper. Rona Ambrose’s expertise made her a logical choice for Intergovernmental Affairs back in February so that’s what she gets now. Not that it really matters since it appears that Harper’s Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs has fewer responsibilities than his chauffeur. Vic Toews was also a brutal choice for Justice but now that the messy Same Sex vote is beyond him, Harper has moved in a much more competent and moderate man to the portfolio. As for Baird…well, good luck – he’ll need it. I’m really not sure what to make of the Solberg/Finley moves and I suspect they’ll get overshadowed quite a bit; I’d be curious to hear any theories on those ones.

So, all in all, Harper made the right moves on this shuffle (although Kenney to multiculturalism is certainly odd, to put it mildly). But given the PMO control over his Ministers, I doubt it will really change the focus of this government dramatically.