Presenting our new Minister of National Defense...
At first blush, it seems kind of natural to have a former career military officer heading up the Defense Department. At first blush, that is. There is an issue that I will set aside for now that maybe it is better to have a civilian nominally in charge of the military, but since the PM sits somewhere above the Minister we still ultimately have that. So I was willing to check this one off as perhaps being a good choice on Harper's part, kind of like making a doctor the health minister.
That is until I started reading in a variety of places that this is no average retired military officer. Well, not the retired part, anyway. (Okay, I've talked to some ex-military friends who claim that once you get that far up the chain of command "retirement" is a bit of a hazy concept.) Before running for Parliament and winning in 2004, he worked as senior lobbyist with Hill and Knowlton, lobbying extensively with many companies that do business with the very department he now runs. The list is long enough that it will cramp my hand to write out, so go check it yourself.
Be amazed.
That is until I started reading in a variety of places that this is no average retired military officer. Well, not the retired part, anyway. (Okay, I've talked to some ex-military friends who claim that once you get that far up the chain of command "retirement" is a bit of a hazy concept.) Before running for Parliament and winning in 2004, he worked as senior lobbyist with Hill and Knowlton, lobbying extensively with many companies that do business with the very department he now runs. The list is long enough that it will cramp my hand to write out, so go check it yourself.
Be amazed.
