After the resignation of Jane Philpot, Justin Trudeau filled the vacancy with British Columbia MP Joyce Murray.

Banff-Airdrie MP Blake Richards says the number of changes in the cabinet lately are getting to be too many.

"First of all, this seems to be kind of a weekly thing. We seem to be getting a cabinet shuffle just about every week and it feels to me that anybody with any integrity is kind of already left Justin Trudeau's cabinet and we're in a spot now that it feels a little bit like shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic."

Richards believes that filling the vacancy with Murray could mean negative things for the oil pipelines.

"Secondly, specifically to Joyce Murray being appointed to fill this latest defection from cabinet, this is an MP who has spoken out very publically being opposed to pipelines. Any and all pipelines it seems. This is something, as an Albertan, certainly concerns me, that you've had someone put in a very senior cabinet position in the Trudeau government that seems to kind of confirm what I've been concerned about all along, which is that we've got a government that doesn't really want to build a pipeline. This kind of appointment really seems to prove that that could be the case."

Originally, Philpot resigned due to Trudeau's handling of the SNC-Lavalin controversy which speaks to his ethics.

"We've got a government that's in crisis mode here. They're sort of caught with some pretty significant ethical scandals here, there's no question about that. It seems like there's a lot of people that are announcing that they're either stepping back from the cabinet or a lot of MPs that have indicated that they're not running again, even a number of them who were first-term MPs. That's not a very typical thing for someone to serve just one term. It seems to me that there's a lot of people who see the writing on the wall here that this is a government that's mired in scandal and I think there's probably more to come on this and this is an indication of that."

Richards believes that the induction of Murray could spell disaster for the pipelines.

"I don't believe that anyone who would oppose the ethically and environmentally responsible natural energy products that we produce in Alberta and want to see our oil brought in from places like Saudi Arabia rather than utilizing our oil here in Canada for our own benefit and being able to access new markets, because that's what pipelines mean and that's really what someone opposing when they oppose a pipeline, is never a good choice in my mind and it just is one more example of this government showing such a lack of care or concern for Alberta or our interests."

Richards also believes that no one could defend Trudeau's handling of the SNC-Lavalin is indefensible.

"Absolutely not. I'm not really sure how anyone could. There's no doubt. The story has changed I don't know how many times. This is a situation where you've got a Prime Minister who sure looks by every account to have put inappropriate pressure on someone to try and essentially break the law for a company to gain some kind of advantage for the liberal party in some kind of election. That is not what the Prime Minister is supposed to do. They're supposed to uphold the law , they're supposed to make sure that the country is governed correctly, his only focus seems to be on preserving his own job and that is not where the Prime Minister's focus should be and I really don't think he has the moral authority to be in the position any longer."

 

Comments? Questions? Story ideas? Email us at news@discoverairdrie.com