Those of you following the great march forwards of Conservatism may be interested to note that Canada's New Government - brought to you by the Conservative Party of Canada - announced their second cabinet shuffle of the term today.
When considering the implications of this, it's crucial to remember the difference between a shuffle in a Parliamentary system (like Canada), and one in he US. On one hand, it's much easier to shuffle a cabinet in Canada than it is in the US: there are no confirmation hearings to worry about, and there's nothing the opposition can do to block the shuffle. On the other hand, it's a very public gesture that there's been some trouble recently.
You may also notice that in Parliamentary systems, it's much more common for existing cabinet members to be shuffled around, as opposed to changing up the membership of the cabinet. This relates to the role of cabinet members: they're almost exclusively spokespeople. Policy is decided by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), and is implemented by senior civil servants; as a result, the only real job of a cabinet member is to sell changes to the public.
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