Robert Celt
New Member
CBC is reporting this morning that Bill Blair, the former Toronto police chief and now member of Parliament for Scarborough Southwest, will be given a lead role in the Liberal push to legalize marijuana.
But Mr. Blair is one of many prominent candidates in the last election who were not given a position in Justin Trudeau’s 30-person cabinet. Instead, Mr. Blair was given the role of one of two parliamentary secretaries to Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould.
So you may wonder: what does a parliamentary secretary even do?
As it happens, this week the Liberals released the guide they are giving all parliamentary secretaries.
The guide lays out the role: you get an extra staff member (probably), more travel for work and a pay bump of an extra $16,600 a year.
But the job of parliamentary secretary is a kind of in-between role. To badly paraphrase a certain pop song: you’re not (just) an MP, not yet a minister.
Not an MP: you stand in for a minister during Question Period, debates and appearing before committees. However, you can’t sit as a voting member of a committee (because you represent the government), nor can you put forth a private member’s bill. You may be asked to represent the minister to the public nationally and internationally.
Not yet a minister: you are not a decision-making member of cabinet, and do not run a department. You may inadvertently learn cabinet secrets, though, and if you do, you should keep them to yourself.
Given all that, if it is true that Mr. Blair has been tasked with the marijuana file, it may be less about crafting the legislation than it is about a former police chief selling his parliamentary colleagues and the public on the policy’s merits.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Bill Blair: Trudeau’s Point Man For Marijuana in Canada?
Author: Chris Hannay
Contact: The Globe and Mail
Photo Credit: Matthew Sherwood
Website: The Globe and Mail
But Mr. Blair is one of many prominent candidates in the last election who were not given a position in Justin Trudeau’s 30-person cabinet. Instead, Mr. Blair was given the role of one of two parliamentary secretaries to Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould.
So you may wonder: what does a parliamentary secretary even do?
As it happens, this week the Liberals released the guide they are giving all parliamentary secretaries.
The guide lays out the role: you get an extra staff member (probably), more travel for work and a pay bump of an extra $16,600 a year.
But the job of parliamentary secretary is a kind of in-between role. To badly paraphrase a certain pop song: you’re not (just) an MP, not yet a minister.
Not an MP: you stand in for a minister during Question Period, debates and appearing before committees. However, you can’t sit as a voting member of a committee (because you represent the government), nor can you put forth a private member’s bill. You may be asked to represent the minister to the public nationally and internationally.
Not yet a minister: you are not a decision-making member of cabinet, and do not run a department. You may inadvertently learn cabinet secrets, though, and if you do, you should keep them to yourself.
Given all that, if it is true that Mr. Blair has been tasked with the marijuana file, it may be less about crafting the legislation than it is about a former police chief selling his parliamentary colleagues and the public on the policy’s merits.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Bill Blair: Trudeau’s Point Man For Marijuana in Canada?
Author: Chris Hannay
Contact: The Globe and Mail
Photo Credit: Matthew Sherwood
Website: The Globe and Mail
