Withstanding CTF calls to reduce the size of cabinet to send a message of downsized government, the new cabinet sworn in today is the largest in Canadian history. At 39 members that:

• Ties Brian Mulroney's largest five years (1985-1989)
• Surpasses Trudeau's record cabinet of 37 ministers
• Blows past Pearon's largest cabinet of 28
• Is nearly twice the size of cabinets under prime ministers from Sir Robert Borden to John Diefenbaker; and
• Three times the size of Canada's first cabinet under Sir John A. MacDonald in 1867, at 13 ministers.

This new (tied) record cabinet does not send the right message to the public service and the public at large: that belt tightening is on the way and that remaining government services will be streamlined. With sub-ministries for everything, perhaps we should just go all out. Here are a few ideas:

• Divide Minister of Justice into ministers of state for:
  • Common Law
  • Code Law
  • Family Law
  • Corporate Law
• Split the Minister of Defense into Defense and Offense
• Add a Status of Men Minister to go along with Status of Women
• Divide all regional development agencies into local "riding-size" ministries so that MPs can hand out pork directly
• Divide Minister of Agriculture into:
  • Ranching
  • Dairy
  • Growing Things
• Divide Heritage into:
  • CBC
  • Can-Con
  • Arts galas
• Divide Fisheries into:
  • Atlantic
  • Pacific
  • Arctic
  • Bass
  • Ones that got away
• Split Natural Resources into:
  • Deciduous forestry
  • Coniferous forestry
  • Stuff that makes power and energy
  • Stuff to make stuff with
• Split Sport into
  • Hockey
  • Football
  • Soccer

Why stop there? Making up cabinet is more about satisfying every demographic, geographic and poligraphic (new word (C)) demand that the opposition or media would complain about if not satisfied. "Not enough young people?" New cabinet spot! "Not enough of religious/ethnic group X?" New spot! "Not enough representation from Y province?" Brand new ministry! The usefulness of cabinet government in Canada seems to have largely died with the steady erosion of Parliament beginning in the Trudeau era. As Donald Savoie put it, cabinet has largely become a focus group for the prime minister. It seems a bygone era when we understood that cabinet is for governance and Parliament is for representation and holding that cabinet to account. Cabinet Size Source