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A Consideration of Cabinet Size
Article 5 / 10 , Vol 38 No 3 (Autumn)
Cabinet size has fluctuated in Canadian legislatures over the past century. Beginning in 1993, two federal governments introduced "roll back" cabinets which sought to significantly reduce the number of ministers. The author, focusing especially on the years 1993 to 2014, asks if Canadian governments have a "cabinet size problem." He notes that since 1993 two trends have emerged: 1) cabinets are more likely to expand during government and more likely to consolidate between governments and 2) cabinet size is more likely to increase during government under centre-left parties than centre or centre-right parties. Although arguments for a reduction of cabinet size tend to focus on financial costs, the author highlights the political cost of having a large cabinet relative to the size of the legislature, as there are fewer private members to keep the government accountable.
Following a January 2014 cabinet shuffle, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 40-member federal ministry tied Brian Mulroney's 1984 cabinet as the largest in Canadian history.1 Compared to other Westminster systems, Canadian cabinets have been noted for their large membership.2 Does Canada have a cabinet size problem? As Graham White wrote in 1990, "foreign visitors to Canada are frequently bewildered by the size of Canadian cabinets".3 Beyond the institutional differences identified by political scientists between Westminster states, the size of the ministries in Canadian federal and provincial governments is subject to domestic scrutiny after each cabinet shuffle. On occasions of cabinet expansion, critics express austerity-themed worries of the cost of government and populist-based concerns of "too many politicians". On occasions of cabinet reduction, first ministers are praised for "streamlining government" or "doing more with less". Not surprisingly, Canadian politicians have been quick to pursue the positive responses to cabinet reduction, promising to appoint fewer ministers to cabinet.
While politicians have focused on the financial savings of cabinet reduction, others have focused on the institutional impact of cabinet reduction. In 2011, Aucoin et al. argued that large cabinets had considerable negative consequences including decreasing the number of private members to hold the government to account and creating more positions to which private members can aspire, thereby contributing to the culture of strict party discipline.4 While Aucoin et al.'s arguments are important – their claims mostly reflect the normative nature of the debate around cabinet size. In fact, most of the political discussion about cabinet size is also based in a normative frame with smaller cabinets acting as a symbol of smaller governments.
Instead of addressing the financial or institutional costs of cabinet size, this article endeavours to introduce an empirical approach to the understanding of cabinet size in Canadian federal and provincial governments by attempting to answer the question: Do Canadian governments have a cabinet size "problem"? To consider this question, three hypotheses are tested: 1) Cabinet size has increased at both the federal and provincial levels of government in Canada, 2) Cabinet size has increased during government and decreased upon dissolution and swearing in of a new government, 3) Cabinet size has increased under governments formed by left-of-centre parties, remained the same under governments formed by centre parties and decreased under governments formed by right-of-centre parties. This study focuses on the period from 1993 to 2014, based on the notion that the 1993 cabinets of Kim Campbell and Jean Chretien represented the first attempt at what I call the "roll-back" cabinet: smaller executives that were mostly symbolic creations to reflect governments' adoption of neo-liberal approaches to the growth and role of the state.
In determining if Canada has a cabinet size problem, I first describe the Canadian case in more detail, and review the academic literature and a sample of the Canadian political narrative on cabinet size. I then present analysis from data collected on cabinet size, including a newly created dataset based on cabinet size changes in the federal and provincial governments from 1993 to 2014.
Before discussing the relevant literature it is important to explain why the Canadian case is unique when examining the issue of cabinet size. Canada's federal system provides two types of jurisdictions with varying sizes of legislatures to observe cabinet reduction and expansion – the federal and provincial levels of government. As well, Canada's lack of coalition governments provides a different perspective than most of the international research that focuses on cabinet size in states with coalition governments – a variable that has a major impact on increasing the ministry size.
In comparing Canada's federal cabinet size with other similar states such as the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, Canada falls in the middle of the pack. As Table 1 indicates, regardless of the political attention paid to cabinet size, comparatively Canada's federal cabinet size is moderate in both proportion of the lower house and ministers per capita.
When we consider Canada's provincial level of government, we find larger cabinet sizes. As Table 2 shows, cabinets take up a large proportion of the legislature in most Canadian provinces.
The provincial numbers help to explain why cabinet size might be of concern. Moreover, they provide good reason to examine if large provincial cabinets are a recent development and what types of variables, such as timing and type of government, lead to cabinet reduction or expansion.
Much of the international literature on cabinet size focuses on cabinet formation in jurisdictions where parties are working in coalitions to form government.5 When considering cabinet formation in coalition governments, both intra-party politics (which applies to single-party governments) and inter-party politics (relationships and dynamics between parties) are considered. Scholars in this area believe inter-party politics help shape and influence size of cabinet in coalition governments.6 Other research has stressed the conundrums that large cabinets present; while a larger ministry provides greater opportunity for representation in the political executive, the larger membership presents challenges for its ability to function effectively.7 Other studies have found that the size of cabinet can influence the size of government and increase levels of spending and deficits.8
Cabinet size has been a topic of discussion in Canadian political science literature since the 1960s but more rigorous examination of trends did not emerge until the 1990s.9 In 1990, Graham White argued that size of Canadian political institutions mattered more than what had previously been understood. White described a number of implications of larger cabinets including: cabinet size's impact on decision making; the power of the first minister; representation in cabinet; and the influence of private members in the legislature.10 A notable study that specifically focused on cabinet size in Canada was Peter Aucoin and Herman Bakvis' 1993 article "Consolidating Cabinet Portfolios: Australian Lessons for Canada." As the title suggests, the authors compare the Australian experience of reducing cabinet size and the Canadian consolidation of cabinet in 1993 under the two new prime ministers who held the office that year, Progressive Conservative Kim Campbell and Liberal Jean Chretien. As Aucoin and Bakvis noted, "The appeal of cabinet consolidations derives from several sources. At a symbolic level, it speaks to the perceived need to reduce government waste. Given the low level of public esteem for politicians, reducing the size of cabinet is seen to constitute an especially appropriate reform measure".11 However, Aucoin and Bakvis suggested that too much focus on the number of ministers detracts from what the real concern should – the organization of the portfolios.
Much of the recent Canadian literature on cabinet size has focused on the implication for democratic practices in the country's legislatures. David Docherty has pointed out the provincial trend toward weak ratios of backbenchers to cabinet ministers and the negative impact on members being able to hold ministers to account. Docherty also noted the impact a large cabinet has on the presence of party discipline stating that "Canadian assemblies lack a critical mass of parliamentarians…the rows of government backbenchers are filled with members hoping for an eventual cabinet seat…across the floor, the ambitions are very similar: most opposition members assume they are only a victory away from a car with driver and the ability to initiate legislation".12 In Aucoin et al.'s Democratizing the Constitution, the authors criticized the ever common practice of increasing the number of ministers, ministers of state and parliamentary secretaries at the federal level of government. Aucoin et al. proposed adopting legislation that would limit the size of ministries to 25 ministers. Echoing Docherty's concerns, the authors contended the legislation "should also increase the likelihood that backbench MPs will act as something other than trained seals clamouring to benefit from the prime minister's power of appointment, and will perhaps even take seriously their role in scrutinizing and holding the government to account".13 The increase in government members provides the prime minister with more power through the cabinet solidarity that comes with ministerial positions and party discipline that comes with the possibility of being appointed to a larger pool of ministerial positions.
While academic attention to federal cabinet size has been scant, even less attention has been paid to provincial cabinet size. Jennifer Smith took note of the growing cabinets in the Atlantic provinces beginning in the 1970s in her 1988 chapter "Ruling Small Worlds" from Prime Ministers and Premiers: Political Leadership and Public Policy in Canada. Smith noted "by strengthening their executives in ways that the institutions of responsible government permit…the premiers in Atlantic Canada have benefitted from the fact that their provinces, however small, are endowed with the full array of the institutions of responsible government".14 Christopher Dunn noted that provincial cabinets can account for 20 to 40 percent of the legislative caucus and the significant degree of power and control this gives the premier and government over "backbenchers on both sides of the House".15 One explanation for large provincial cabinets is that premiers are pressured by similar representation concerns as the prime minister but with smaller elected chambers.16 Still, regardless of which level of cabinet government scholars have studied, the majority of approaches have been based in a normative framework without explicit attention on empirical questions of rate of cabinet growth and variables that may influence cabinet growth. White's comments on larger cabinets illustrated the normative conundrums that exist due to the difficulty of measuring cabinet structure effectiveness. He said, "large cabinets clearly involve more people directly in government decision making. In turn this can only widen the range of interests and perspectives brought to bear." White remarked, "to the extent that reducing the constraints on the first minister's power is undemocratic, larger cabinets can represent a diminution of democracy".17
A Brief History of the Issue of Cabinet Size in Canada to 1993
While cabinet composition and size is currently the prime minister's prerogative, most forget that the size of the original 1867 federal cabinet was a group decision, made by members of the Fathers of Confederation. As noted Canadian historian W.L. Morton wrote, "It was both acceptable policy and quite practicable to keep government in all its activities, and the cabinet in number of members, quite small. This disposition explains why the leading politicians of Confederation so readily agreed that the cabinet of the Dominion should be no more than 13…the leading politicians unanimously and steadfastly held that a larger cabinet would be 'unworkable'".18 The delegates to the Westminster constitutional conference in London agreed to the size and composition of cabinet: Ontario (five), Quebec (four), New Brunswick (two) and Nova Scotia (two).19 Significantly, the total number in cabinet was only one more than the previous cabinet of the Province of Canada (future Ontario and Quebec) even though Confederation added Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Based on Canada's population in 1867, the 13-member cabinet meant one minister for every 250,000 people/citizens.20 As of July 2014, the ratio of federal ministers to Canadians citizen was roughly one minister for every 900,000 citizens. In Canada's first 50 years, federal cabinet size slowly grew until 1921 when Liberal Prime Minister Mackenzie King reduced cabinet to 16 members (from the previous government's 21) and made cabinet's regional representation based on the number of parliamentary seats from each province.21 King's cabinet soon increased to 19, which as a ratio of minister to population in 1921 became 1:463,000.22
In Canada, cabinet growth has been tied to the entrenchment of cabinet committee systems since the 1960s, representational concerns in Quebec, representation of politically significant groups and simply the growth of government responsibilities.23 A significant development in the history of cabinet size in Canada was the passage of The Ministries and Ministers of State Act in 1970. The act established two new types of ministers of state: one type oversaw a Ministry of State and a second type was assigned to assist a minister or ministers in their duties. While the introduction of a new type of minister was seen as a natural result of the increased role of government in Canadian society, some concerns were expressed about control and accountability in the new arrangements created by ministers of state.24 Federal cabinet size went from about 20 under Louis St. Laurent to almost 30 by the time John Diefenbaker left office in 1963.25 One clear outcome was that the legislation provided for much larger ministries under Pierre Trudeau and Brian Mulroney in the 1970s and 1980s.By the 1980s, concern over expanding cabinets emerged. The Mulroney cabinet, which expanded to 40 ministers, was referred to as a "mini-caucus" of Progressive Conservative members of parliament.26
In 1993, Aucoin and Bakvis argued that "the consolidation of cabinet portfolios in order to reduce the size of the Canadian cabinet has become a theme in vogue".27 The authors cited attention to cabinet consolidation made by politicians and bureaucrats. Preston Manning (Reform leader), Jean Charest and Kim Campbell (Progressive Conservative leadership candidates), Robert de Cotret (former Treasury Board president) and Gordon Osbaldeston (former clerk of the Privy Council) all advocated for cabinet reduction. During the 1993 federal election, a few months after Campbell had made the initial reduction to cabinet, the new, upstart, populist Reform Party pledged to reduce the federal cabinet even more, down to 16 ministers. While the Reform Party did not form the government, the new Liberal Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, continued with the momentum of cabinet consolidation by introducing a relatively small first cabinet composed of 31 ministers. Along with heightened attention to cabinet consolidation at the federal level, provincial leaders began to discuss smaller ministries.
Since 1993 a long list of candidates for provincial premierships and party leaderships have promised to reduce cabinet size including: Glen Clark (BC), Gordon Campbell (BC), Ralph Klein (AB), Ed Stelmach (AB), Jim Prentice (AB), Lorne Calvert (SK), Mike Harris (ON), Tim Hudak (ON), Bernard Lord (NB), Dominic Cardy (NB), John Hamm (NS), and Roger Grimes (NF). Provincial leaders who cut cabinet regularly cited financial reasons. After their respective cabinet consolidations, New Brunswick Premiers Bernard Lord (1999-2006) and David Alward (2010-2014) noted that "[it] really means better respect for your tax dollars" and "we have reduced our spending by literally thousands of dollars because we have made a decision to have fewer ministers, other political staff, and staff who go with those ministers".28 In 1999, when Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm introduced a cabinet of 11 ministers he argued, "This is a province that can't afford more government".29
As well, negative financially-based criticisms emerged in response to cabinet growth. When Alberta Premier Alison Redford increased the province's cabinet size by one in 2013, opposition leader Danielle Smith contended, "I am exceedingly disappointed by the new cabinet's size, as cabinet ministers now outnumber private members in the Progressive Conservative caucus. Increasing the payroll of cabinet-level politicians and staff does not support the premier's supposed commitment to living within our means".30 Premiers have been quick to justify any cabinet increases, focusing on political reasons. Alberta Premier Ralph Klein argued his larger cabinet was due to an expanded caucus and regional representation pressures stating that "We have 74 members, and in order to give Edmonton greater representation, we're going to have to expand it".31 In 2004, when Gordon Campbell appointed the largest BC cabinet ever, (28) he defended his move arguing that "We have to find a way to establish political accountability. You hold me to account for those things. If I can establish that with cabinet, I think that's important".32
Given the list of Canadian politicians who have decided to include cabinet reduction as part of party or leadership platforms, it is apparent that since Campbell and Chretien's 1993 federal cabinet consolidations, cabinet size has become a common idea identified when discussing reform of federal and provincial institutions. While the discourse may have increased in the last two decades of Canadian politics, there is still little discussion around the empirical aspects of cabinet size, especially at the provincial level of government.
In their 2014 study, Indridason and Bowler tested a number of hypotheses on coalition government cabinets, two of which could be tested in single-party governments: 1) Left-wing governments are expected to have larger cabinets; 2) As the size of the legislature increases so should the size of the cabinet.
This study tests similar hypotheses in the following order:
H1) Cabinet size has increased at both the federal and provincial levels of government in Canada;
H2) Cabinet size has increased during government and cabinet size has decreased between governments; and
H3) Cabinet size has increased under governments formed by left-of-centre parties, remained the same under governments formed by centre parties and decreased under governments formed by right-of-centre parties.
The hypotheses are tested using data on federal and provincial cabinets from 1993 to 2014. Changes in size of cabinet are determined using two types of cabinet size measures: 1) Cabinet Size before Dissolution (n=55); 2) Cabinet Size after Election (n=66). Using these numbers, two different types of changes of size of cabinet can be measured: 1) Change during government (from Swearing-in to Dissolution); 2) Change between elections (from Dissolution to Swearing-in).
H1: Cabinet size has increased at both the federal and provincial levels of government in Canada.
Data from 1867 to 2014 reveal that cabinets have increased in size in Canada, and that certain time periods and regions have experienced greater growth than others. As well, cabinets have increased as a proportion of the size of legislatures. While this study is concerned with the historic growth of cabinet in Canada, it is especially concerned with post-1993 cabinet size change. During the last two decades in Canada we find that eight Canadian jurisdictions (the federal government, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, PEI, Newfoundland) have seen cabinet size increase and three (British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia) have seen cabinet size decrease.
While cabinet sizes have increased at both the federal and provincial levels, so too have federal and provincial legislatures. Therefore it makes more sense to consider growth of cabinet as a proportion of the legislature. Figure 1 presents size of cabinet as a proportion of the size of legislature at the federal and provincial level at four selected time points. The first time point is 1908, just two years after Alberta and Saskatchewan entered Confederation. The second time point is 1955, six years after Newfoundland entered Confederation. The third time point is 1993; a turning point in the cabinet size history in Canada with Campbell and Chretien's reductions to federal cabinet, and finally, the fourth time point is 2014, the most recent year to measure cabinet size.
As Figure 1 shows, provinces, and especially smaller, Atlantic provinces, have the largest cabinets proportionate to legislature size. In fact, by 2014 the six provinces with the smallest population had over 25 per cent of their legislatures in cabinet: Saskatchewan – 31.0 per cent, Manitoba – 33.3 per cent, New Brunswick – 26.5 per cent, Nova Scotia – 31.4 per cent, Prince Edward Island – 40.7 per cent, Newfoundland – 31.3 per cent. The provincial proportions stand in stark contrast to the federal cabinet which is comprised of only 12.7 per cent of the House of Commons. Figure 1 also shows that cabinets, as a proportion of the legislature, have grown over the four time points used to assess change of cabinet size. On average, cabinet size grew most, as a proportion of the legislature, between 1908 and 1955, expanding by 6.04 per cent. During the other two time periods, growth measured at 0.97 per cent (1955-1993) and 3.49 per cent (1993-2014).
In examining the 1993-2014 period more closely, Figure 2 and Figure 3 present cabinet size change as measured at two different points in the cycle of government – post-election and dissolution. By using these two sets of data we can answer the question of whether or not cabinet expansion is most prevalent at the beginning or end of governments.
Figure 2 shows the change in cabinet size at the federal and provincial levels in Canada from 1993 to 2014 using post-election cabinet numbers. As the trend lines suggest, outside of the federal level, change has been quite gradual or non-existent with the exception of growth in some provinces (Alberta 17 to 24, Ontario 19-27, Quebec 20-26) and reduction, dramatic in one (New Brunswick 22 to 13).
Figure 3 shows the change in dissolution cabinet size at the federal and provincial levels of government in Canada from 1995 to 2014. As the trend lines suggest, many provincial cabinet sizes have remained flat, while several have experienced increases (Canada – 30 to 37, Ontario – 22 to 27), decreases (New Brunswick – 21 to 17, Nova Scotia – 17 to 14) or both (Quebec – 26 to 36 to 23, British Columbia from 22 to 28 to 23).
H2: Cabinet size has increased during government and cabinet size has decreased between governments.
The second hypothesis tested is whether or not cabinet size has expanded during government (in between elections) and whether or not cabinet size has decreased after an election (in between governments). To test this hypothesis, pre- and post-election cabinet sizes were collected from federal and provincial governments between 1993 and 2014.
Cabinets grew by an average of seven per cent during government compared to decreasing in size by an average of three per cent between governments. When controlling for new governments with new leaders, cabinets decreased even more by an average of 10 per cent. This finding suggests that new political actors are more likely to present ideas of institutional reform. Veteran political actors may have difficulty reducing cabinet size because they have more historical connections to party members that they might reward with cabinet appointments.
H3: Cabinet size has expanded under governments formed by left-of-centre parties, remained the same under governments formed by centre parties and decreased under governments formed by right-of-centre parties
Another variable that may relate to expansion or reduction in cabinet size is the party in power. It can be hypothesized that parties on the right of the political spectrum would seek to reduce the size of government while parties on the left of the political spectrum would seek to expand the size of government. In Canada's multi-party system (at both the provincial and federal level, excluding the province-specific Saskatchewan Party and Parti Quebecois), since 1993, three different parties have won enough seats to form governments: the Progressive Conservative Party (Conservative at the federal level), the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party. Most political observers agree that the parties fit on the political spectrum in the following manner: Progressive Conservative (right), Liberal (centre), New Democratic Party (left). Figure 4 presents the percentage of increase, no change or decrease to cabinet size of parties in power at the federal and provincial levels from 1993 to 2014. The percentage change in size is calculated based on the change of number of ministers from swearing-in to the dissolution of government. Out of 55 governments (three Parti Quebecois and two Saskatchewan Party governments were not included in this table), 20 governments were Conservative or Progressive Conservative, 22 were Liberal and 8 were New Democratic. While the total number of governments in power (n) is especially low for the NDP, the numbers still present some interesting trends of expansion of cabinet during government by party in power.
As Figure 4 shows, in the case of Progressive Conservative or Conservative-led governments there was an increase in cabinet size in 45 per cent of the governments, no change in 35 per cent and a decrease in cabinet size in 20 per cent of the governments. Similar to Progressive Conservative or Conservative-led governments, for Liberal-led governments there was an increase in cabinet size in 45 per cent of the governments, no change in 36 per cent and a decrease in cabinet size in 19 per cent of the governments. While the centre and centre-right party-led governments made similar cabinet size changes during the course of a government, the left party led-governments in Canada were almost twice as likely to increase cabinet size. In the case of New Democratic Party-led governments, there was an increase in cabinet size for 75 per cent of the governments, no change in 12.5 per cent and a decrease in cabinet size in 12.5 per cent of the governments.
In conclusion, the main findings of this study are as follows: 1) While federal and provincial cabinets have expanded over time, as a proportion of the legislature, provinces and especially smaller, Atlantic provinces, have the largest cabinets in the proportional sense (e.g. Federal 12.7 per cent compared to PEI 40.7 per cent); 2) Federal and provincial cabinets expanded by an average of 7 percent during government mandates compared to decreasing in size by an average of 3 percent between government mandates. When controlling for new governments with new leaders, cabinet size decreased even more by an average of 10 percent; 3) Cabinets expanded during government mandates more often under centre-left parties (75 per cent of the time) than under centre (45 per cent of the time) or centre-right parties (45 per cent of the time ).
During the first half of the 20th century, the Canadian political executive grew and evolved without much attention. It was not until the dramatic changes introduced by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and embraced by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, that negative attention began to influence the narrative about cabinet size and the growth of the centre of Canadian government. Trudeau introduced the so-called "institutionalized cabinet", with a myriad of new cabinet committees, and the "presidentialization" of the prime minister's office, with an accelerated growth in PMO staff. Following Trudeau, Mulroney, contributed to the growth and evolution of the centre with additions such as American-style chiefs-of-staff to ministers' offices. Both of these actions resulted in greater public and academic focus on the political executive and contributed to an eventual, inevitable political backlash.
By 1993, a number of factors emerged to challenge the growing centre. First, neo-liberal ideological positions on political institutions held by some parties were critical of growing government, both in its size and expense, pushing back against the growth of government that had been occurring for decades. Second, the argument of "doing politics differently" began to find a place in the political mainstream narrative as citizens and the media continued to be less deferential to political actors and question political institutions like never before. Finally, a new Canadian political force, the upstart, regional and populist Reform Party, emerged as a competitive political party with ideas that would pull the parties of the centre (Progressive Conservative, Liberal) to the right and embrace notions of smaller government. The Progressive Conservative and Liberal parties were quick in attempting to adopt Reform platform planks related to smaller government, balanced budgets and other austerity measures. Since then, there has been heightened scrutiny of the size of federal and provincial cabinets and, as listed earlier in the paper, numerous calls by political actors to consolidate ministries.
The findings support the idea that the actions of governments are often based on their age (newly elected or mid-mandate) and ideological position. However, due to the fact that cabinet construction and composition is the prerogative of the first minister, we know that the debate over cabinet size will not easily subside. First ministers are confronted with many pressures when facing cabinet construction including representation, managerial concerns and government image-making. In discussing cabinet size in Canada we should note that arguments are based on financial or political cost. The main financial argument against large cabinets is the cost of ministers' salaries, benefits, expenses, and staff. The main political argument against large cabinets is the loss of private member scrutiny in Canadian legislatures due to backbenchers' promotion to government.
While cabinet may be used as a symbol of the size of government, many forget cabinet is the force of government in the legislature. Due to high levels of party discipline in Canada it is easy to forget that all backbenchers, from the government and opposition parties, are there to hold the government (the cabinet) to account. Therefore in the legislature, a large cabinet is not just a symbol, it is a significant number contributing to control and power in the legislature. When cabinet is larger there are more government members and fewer private members to hold the cabinet to account. The political cost is much greater than the regularly overstated financial cost.
Regardless of the significance of the political costs of large cabinets, the financial cost of cabinet is the focus of the political narrative on cabinet size. During the 1993 Progressive Conservative leadership campaign, Kim Campbell's main rival, Jean Charest, pledged to reduce cabinet. Charest argued that his cabinet consolidation would save $6 billion – a figure that was said to have puzzled government officials.33 The financial cost of cabinet minister salaries is a common argument for consolidating cabinet. In 2008, it was argued that adding one more minister to cabinet would cost the federal government $446,400 in additional salaries (out of total federal government expenses of roughly $240 billion).34 Even on a smaller scale, it is easy to challenge the cost-saving function of cutting cabinet. For example, in New Brunswick, in 2014, a new minister including additional salary, vehicle allowance and staff costs between $116,078-$211,296, which in New Brunswick's 2013-2014 gross expenditures would have amounted to between 0.001 per cent-0.003 per cent of total costs.
A champion of balanced budgets and cutting government waste and a former Reform MP, Prime Minister Harper, in 2011, defended his 39-minister cabinet by arguing, "I think it's important to know when you're talking about austerity, that this government has reduced ministerial budgets significantly. So the question here is not cost. The question is making sure that we have a ministry that is broad, representative of the country and tried to use people's talents to the maximum. I think it would be a mistake to try and have a smaller cabinet that would make less use of people".35 Harper's argument for a larger cabinet is based in normative terms and this rationale reflects most of the discourse on cabinet size in Canada.
The normative element is significant because even at the point of the heightened focus on cabinet size in 1993, central political actors expressed skepticism about the real benefit of altering its size. In 1993, prior to the cabinet consolidation directed by Kim Campbell, former Finance Minister Donald Mazankowski noted, "You are dealing with something [cabinet size] that's essentially symbolic".36 All of the attention paid to cabinet size raises the question: Is there a trend of expanding political executives in Canada? The negative reaction of the media, opposition parties and political observers to any increase in cabinet numbers implies that Canada's jurisdictions may be in the midst of a trend toward ever-growing executives. The results of this study suggest that while cabinet numbers may be trending upward slightly, the situation is more nuanced. When considering cabinet size in the future there should be a focus on three important elements: 1) The proportion of the cabinet to the legislature; 2) The timing of cabinet size changes; and 3) The party in power during cabinet size changes. By examining these variables, a more empirical and contextually sound discussion can take place, instead of resorting to normative arguments such as "small is better" or "government continues to grow".
Independent Member of Parliament Brent Rathgeber (a former Conservative and author of the book Irresponsible Government) introduced a Private Member's Bill to limit the number of ministers and ministers of state to 26 in response to the news. Brent Rathgeber, "Smaller cabinet, better democracy," National Post, May 1, 2015.
Graham White, Cabinets and First Ministers UBC Press: Vancouver, 2005. p. 145
Graham White, "Big is Different From Little: On Taking Size Seriously in the Analysis of Canadian Governmental Institutions," Canadian Public Administration 33:4, 1990, p. 53.
Peter Aucoin, Mark Jarvis and Lori Turnbull, Democratizing the Constitution: Reforming Responsible Government. Emond Montgomery Publications: Toronto, 2011. p. 118-119
Indridi Indridason and Shaun Bowler, "Determinants of Cabinet Size," European Journal of Political Research 53, 2014.
Indridason and Bowler, "Determinants of Cabinet Size," p.382.
Indridi Indridason and Christopher Kam, "Cabinet Reshuffles and Ministerial Drift," British Journal of Political Science 38:4, 2008; M. J. Laver and K.A. Shepsle, Making and Breaking Governments: Cabinets and Legislatures in Parliamentary Democracies, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1996; Patrick Weller, "Inner Cabinets and Outer Ministers: Some Lessons from Australia and Britain," Canadian Public Administration 23:4, 1980.
C.A. Schaltegger and L.P. Feld, "Do Large Cabinets Favor Large Governments? Evidence on the Fiscal Commons Problem for Swiss Cantons," Journal of Public Economics 93:1-2, 2009; J. Wehner, "Cabinet structure and fiscal policy outcomes," European Journal of Political Research 49:5, 2010.
J.R. Mallory, "Cabinet Government in Canada," Political Studies 2:2, 1964; W.A. Matheson, The Prime Minister and Cabinet (Methuen: Toronto, 1976); Peter Aucoin and Herman Bakvis, "Consolidating Cabinet Portfolios: Australian Lessons for Canada," Canadian Public Administration 36:3, 1993.
White, "Big is Different from Little" p. 529.
Aucoin and Bakvis, "Consolidating Cabinet Portfolios." p. 393.
David Docherty, Legislatures Vancouver: UBC Press, 2005, p. 182.
Aucoin et al., Democratizing the Constitution, p. 230
Jennifer Smith, "Ruling Small Worlds: Political Leadership in Atlantic Canada," In Leslie Pal and David Taras (eds.), Prime Ministers and Premiers: Political Leadership and Public Policy in Canada, . Prentice-Hall Canada: Scarborough, 1988, p. 129.
Christopher Dunn, "Premiers and Cabinets," in Christopher Dunn (ed.), Provinces: Canadian Provincial Politics University of Toronto Press: Toronto, 2008, p. 223.
Richard Van Loon and Michael S. Whittington, The Canadian Political System: Environment, Structure and Process. McGraw-Hill: Toronto, 1971, p. 355
White, Cabinets and First Ministers, p. 145
W.L. Morton, "The Cabinet of 1867," in Frederick W. Gibson (ed.), Cabinet Formation and Bicultural Relations. Studies of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. Vol. 6. Queen's Printer: Ottawa, 1970. p. 2
Morton, "The Cabinet of 1867". p. 5
Morton, "The Cabinet of 1867". p. 14
Frederick W. Gibson, "The Cabinet of 1921," in Frederick W. Gibson (ed.) Cabinet Formation and Bicultural Relations. Studies of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. Vol. 6. Queen's Printer: Ottawa, 1970. p. 76
Morton, "The Cabinet of 1921". p. 103
Aucoin and Bakvis, "Consolidating Cabinet Portfolios"; Fred Schindeler, "The Prime Minister and the Cabinet: History and Development," in Thomas Hockin (ed.) Apex of Power: The Prime Minister and Political Leadership in Canada. Second Edition. Prentice-Hall of Canada: Scarborough, 1977; Matheson, The Prime Minister and Cabinet; Gregory Inwood, Understanding Public Administration: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. Prentice Hall Allyn and Bacon Canada: Toronto, 1999.
John Chenier, "Ministers of State to Assist: Weighing the Costs and the Benefits," Canadian Public Administration 28:3, 1985. p. 400
Herman Bakvis, Regional Ministers: Power and Influence in the Canadian Cabinet. University of Toronto Press: Toronto, 1991. p. 68
Bakvis, Regional Ministers. p. 263
Aucoin and Bakvis, "Consolidating Cabinet Portfolios", p. 393
Bernard Lord, "Opinion," Times and Transcript, June 7, 2000; Chris Morris, "Grits Slam the Number of Deputies in Premier's Office," Telegraph Journal, November 25, 2010, p. A8.
Nova Scotia. Premier's Office, "Press Release" December 29, 1999. URL: http://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20000217018
James Wood and Chris Varcoe, "Redford changes face of cabinet," Calgary Herald, December 7, 2013, p. A3.
Tom Olsen, "Klein upsizes new Tory cabinet," Calgary Herald, March 16, 2001, p. A1.
Ian Bailey, "Monster cabinet good for B.C., says premier," Vancouver Province, January 28, 2004, p. A6.
Jeffrey, Simpson, "Cutting the cabinet is a good idea but it won't help the deficit," The Globe and Mail, June 23, 1993, A20.
Andrew Mayeda, "New female MPs given cabinet jobs," The Windsor Star, October 31, 2008, p. A1.
Steven Rennie, "Cabinet costs soar, new salaries and perks total $9M," The Canadian Press, May 22, 2011.
Aucoin and Bakvis, "Consolidating Cabinet Portfolios", p. 415.
Author revparlcPosted on September, 2015 December, 2020 Categories FeatureTags J.P. Lewis
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A Thiocolchicine metabolite, used in therapy as an antitunor, antiinflammatory and immunosuppressive agent.;Labeled Colchicine, intended for use as an internal standard for the quantification of Colchicine by GC- or LC-mass spectrometry.
Protected metabolite of labelled Thiocolchicine (TCC).
An active labelled metabolite of Loratadine.;Labeled Desloratadine, intended for use as an internal standard for the quantification of Desloratadine by GC- or LC-mass spectrometry.
3-Hydroxy Donepezil is an impurity of Donepezil (D531750, HCl salt); a nootropic and an inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase.
Labelled 3-Methoxy-p-tyramine . 3-Methoxy-p-tyramine is a major metabolite of Dopamine ; product of catechol O-methyltransferase.;Labeled Dopamine, intended for use as an internal standard for the quantification of Dopamine by GC- or LC-mass spectrometry.


Seeing the northern lights is undoubtedly high on a lot of people's bucket lists. There's something otherworldly about those snaking, dancing colours in the sky that's, well, magical.
Chasing the northern lights, or aurora borealis, can be both elusive or ridiculously straightforward – it just depends on the particular confluence of factors that result in the lights making their appearance.
But what it does need is darkness and a clear sky. We headed to the Arctic city of Tromso in Norway to base our quest to see the northern lights. The season runs from late September to April but peak period is in the depths of the northern winter.
And therein lies a big problem. In winter, in the Arctic, it's cold and it snows – a lot. Just making our way out of Tromso airport without slip sliding away on icy paths was tricky enough. Over the four days we spent there in early December, it started snowing early the first morning and pretty much didn't stop.
So the game is fairly simple – monitor the measure of northern lights activity known as the 'KP' index (which runs from zero to nine) and look for clear skies.
Our first night we headed out with a tour company that styled themselves 'aurora chasers'. It didn't start well. Construction around our hotel meant they couldn't come to pick us up and told us to meet them outside a local convenience store at the appointed hour. Fifteen freezing minutes ticked by before, in desperation, we called them – not the cheapest thing to do with an Australian mobile phone. Apparently other pick ups were 'late' so, we just had to wait and they didn't think it necessary to get in touch with us. Great customer service, not.
It was explained we'd be heading for the northernmost spot on the local islands that make up the greater Tromso area where the guides believed was the best chance of clear skies. So, off we went. We made a short stop earlier and got into thermal suits. The booking process clearly asked what size should be provided, so it was a bit puzzling that the guide didn't have the right sizes for the assembled group.
And so we drove, stopping now and then, but there was not even a glimmer in the sky. It was explained to us that the KP rating was very low – 0.3 – so minimal activity. A fire was built in the snow, hot dogs were grilled on a portable, self-contained barbecue and we sat in the snow with a smoking, sputtering fire and generally felt extremely deflated.
The guide offered toboggans to go sliding down the nearest slope. Thanks, but no thanks. As time ticked towards midnight, we gave up and returned to the city.
The following night, we booked a tour advertised as 'dog sledding under the northern lights'. You can read the post about that experience here. No auroras in a snowstorm but our sled driver told us the KP rating for the following night, our last in Tromso, was around 5-6. When we got back to the city, we booked with a different company from our first aurora chase.
This was Arctic Explorers. We booked the Monday morning for a tour that night and, via email, worked out where to be collected – a hotel five minutes' walk from ours, all good.
At the appointed time, our driver/guide Max turned up to collect us. Max is from upstate New York and is a bit of an adventurer, having climbed a few of the world's great mountains, including Everest. Max took us (a group of four, plus a local girl training to be a northern lights guide) to the company's warehouse to change into thermal suits and snow boots. We took our own jackets and boots in the car to change later.
Max told us some people don't want to wear the supplied suits. Frankly, having experienced the cold on this tour, that's absolutely gobsmacking. Be warm people – wear the suits!
This small group piled into a small van, but depending on numbers, the tour can be a larger minibus. There are other tours, with lots of people, in typical tour buses. That's not something we considered.
And off we went. With the snow tumbling down we didn't have the most optimistic outlook but Max explained we were in for a long drive. Given the topography he said the best chance of clear skies was to be found over the border in Finland.
Here's the route, as shown on Google maps. It doesn't look particularly far but factor in quite windy roads and lots of snow and it was a challenging drive.
Max chatted throughout without sounding like he was reciting a prepared spiel. He knew the spot for us to stop halfway for a bathroom break and he was always on the lookout for an aurora, once we hit clear sky.
We stopped three times and witnessed auroras, each stronger than the last. The best spot – as Max predicted – was just over the border in Finland, near a town called Kilpisjarvi.
At the second stop, we waded through knee-deep powder and it was seriously cold. Tip – if you don't have a balaclava, wrap a scarf around the lower part of your face to keep warm. The tour organisers also recommend mittens rather than gloves as keeping your fingers together also helps the warmth factor.
Max was all set to build us a campfire at the second stop but the sky started to cloud over and we headed on to Finland. It was a masterful move and we were in awe watching the lights swirl and dance. In the main they were green, as you can see from the photos here, but there were occasional glimpses of other colours – which are quite rare. The dominant aurora colour is green.
Just a note re: photography. If you don't carry your own SLR, forget about trying to use your iPhone when the temperatures are this low. The phone doesn't like the cold. The pictures here were graciously supplied by Max. The full moon does compete with the lights, making them slightly less saturated in colour but they're still an amazing sight.
Compared to our previous tour agency, Arctic Explorers was incredibly organised, smart and focused. They're a hearty recommendation if you're heading to Tromso to try to see the northern lights.
Tromso has relatively mild weather in the winter, but temperatures while we were there in early December hovered around zero degrees celsius for the most part. There are a few essentials to pack if you're heading for the Arctic.
Thermals – we just bought the Heattech gear from Uniqlo. The thermal vest and leggings were essential under any other clothing to remain warm.
Snug, water resistant boots – make sure they have a sole that will help you crunch through ice and snow. Walking paths are not always cleared and the streets in the city are just heavily packed snow and can be very slippery to cross.
Fleece – we had fleece-lined hoodies (again from Uniqlo) which gave us an extra layer of warmth. Absolute lifesavers!
Down jackets – everyone in Tromso seems to wear them and you can understand why. Make sure you get one with a hood to help keep the snow off your head.
Beanies, wool socks (two pairs at a time are a good look!), gloves (and/or mittens).


No more warnings ... People carrying fruit into South Australia will now be hit with a hefty fine in a bid to protect the state's fruit fly-free status.
Motorists bringing fruit into South Australia will now be hit with a hefty fine as the state government steps up measures against fruit fly.
''From roadblocks to quarantine bins, we will use every tool at our disposal to defend our vital horticulture industry against fruit fly and to protect our fruit fly-free status,'' SA Primary Industries Minister Tim Whetstone told the Adelaide Advertiser.
As of last Friday, a $375 fine will be issued to those bringing in fruit, instead of the caution previously meted out.
Mr Whetstone said new electronic signs will tell drivers to 'Eat it or Bin it' on approach to the Yamba station on the border with Victoria, adding that declaring produce there without penalty was no longer an option.
Fresh fruit and fruiting vegetables cannot be carried from interstate into South Australia, unless they comply with import requirements. Commercial importers generally need a plant health certificate or plant health assurance certificate to bring these items into the state.
Uncertified fresh fruit and fruiting vegetables (those generally carried by the travelling public) cannot be brought into the state.
Plant health inspectors can search any vehicle at a quarantine station and take any restricted items.
■Sturt Hwy at Yamba between Mildura and Renmark.
■Barrier Hwy at Oodla Wirra.
■Mallee Hwy between Murrayville and Pinnaroo.
Highways that do not have quarantine stations at entry points to the state have disposal bins that are signed.


text:
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Police: 7-month-old abducted by registered sex offender
The infant was reported to have been abducted by her father, and could be in extreme danger
Police: 7-month-old abducted by registered sex offender The infant was reported to have been abducted by her father, and could be in extreme danger Check out this story on citizen-times.com: https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2018/06/04/police-7-month-old-abducted-registered-sex-offender/668629002/
Associated Press Published 9:51 a.m. ET June 4, 2018 | Updated 1:42 p.m. ET June 4, 2018
An Amber Alert has been issued for a 7-month-old girl who police say was abducted by a registered sex offender at a gas station in Virginia.(Photo: Courtesy of Virginia State Police)
DANVILLE, VA — An Amber Alert has been issued for a 7-month-old girl who police say was abducted by a registered sex offender at a Virginia gas station.
State police say Emma Grace Kennedy and 51-year-old Carl Ray Kennedy could be headed to North Carolina, following the Sunday-night kidnapping.
Carl Kennedy was armed with a knife when he assaulted the infant's mother at a Kwik Stop and took the girl, according to the alert.
Suspect and victim were last seen traveling east on Riverside Drive from Danville, Virginia, in a gold Suzuki sedan with fictitious North Carolina plates of EKZ-5093 and a Johnny's Auto Sales emblem on the trunk.
Authorities say Kennedy is registered as a sex offender in North Carolina.
Carl Kennedy, the father and abductor of the infant girl. (Photo: Virginia State Police)
He is described as a 5-foot-8 white male with gray hair and green eyes, weighing 170 pounds.
He was last seen wearing a brown short-sleeved shirt, gray shorts and black and white Sketchers shoes.
Police say Kennedy has skull tattoos on both forearms; a tattoo of an eye on the back of his right hand; a tattoo of a wizard on his upper left arm; and a pitbull on his upper right arm, under which is written "American bulldog."
Anyone with information that could aid investigators has been asked to contact the Danville Police Department at (434)799-5111 or Virginia State Police at (800)822-4453.
Read or Share this story: https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2018/06/04/police-7-month-old-abducted-registered-sex-offender/668629002/
Ellen Frost indicted on federal charges
Asheville Valvoline worker fired after racist invoice
Nathaniel Dixon gets life prison sentence
Commissioner chair: Suspected Frost 2 years ago
Shooting in north Buncombe under investigation
Givens Estates plans $42M expansion

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Modern Castle Designed for a Narrow London Lot
By Stephanie Rogers
It's not exactly polite to buy a plot of land in a historic neighborhood and build something that sticks out like a sore thumb, having almost nothing in common with the houses around it. But that doesn't mean you have to conform to the existing architecture, either. London architect Alex Michaelis of the firm Michaelis Boyd found a happy medium by incorporating common materials and shapes of the area into his playful, creative dream home.
Michaelis was initially approached by a developer to help design something to take up a challenging long and narrow site on Blythe Road in West London's Hammersmith area. Back then, the only thing on site was a dilapidated garage the would need to be demolished. Though he had already designed his own home in Oxford Gardens, something about the plot spoke to him, leading him to eventually purchase it from the developer himself.
Because it's so narrow, and the neighboring houses rise so high on either side, Michaelis knew that getting enough daylight and outdoor space would be challenging with a conventional layout. On top of that, the planning permissions called for a conventional infill house, but the architect saw potential for something a lot more fun. He imagined what it might look like if he played with unexpected shapes, drawing the boundaries of the house away from the neighbors slightly without compromising square footage.
The result almost looks like a modern castle on an urban scale, with turret-like rounded forms visible from the street. He chose to stick with brick to complement the architectural vernacular of the area, but in a lighter, softer tone, and mimicked the variety of window shapes seen on the houses of his neighbors. The home's rounded walls also allow sunlight to come in from multiple angles all day long, on all four sides of the property.
Just past the wooden entrance gate, the front volume contains the home's common areas, with sliding glass doors opening out onto the deck and swimming pool. A connecting bridge leads to the second volume containing bedrooms. Both structures have their own rooftop gardens overlooking the city.
It's common for residents of packed urban neighborhoods to worry about what will happen if an empty or non-residential lot next door is sold. After all, you never know what's going to go up. It could easily be a monstrosity of a bland condominium tower that suddenly crowds your own home, blocks your access to daylight, and dominates the entire block. Michaelis' design not only satisfies his own desires, it also avoids casting shadows on those of others.
"The Round House is a new build eight-bedroom, four-bathroom residential project on the site of a former MOT [vehicle safety test] center," explains the firm. "The house uses traditional building materials whilst showcasing modern design, demonstrating that new builds can be imaginative and family homes need not sacrifice style. Maximizing light was key to the design, so the building was pulled back from the neighboring walls to allow light to seep in to all four sides."
"From slides and a pool to hidden areas and a fireman's pole which mischievously connects the ground and first floor, there are plenty of playful details that elevate the project to a truly bespoke piece of residential architecture."


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text:
Responding to Jaxon Washburn's New Critique of RO
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled… (Isaiah 50:11)
Jaxon Washburn just posted here a lengthy critique of the Radical Orthodoxy position. I won't do a point-by-point discussion of all of his arguments; many of the objections to RO have been addressed thoroughly in other places.
But if I were to summarize Jaxon's position, I might do so as follows:
Radical Orthodoxy and its embrace of the three most recent doctrinal proclamations as a "doctrinal tent" are out of alignment with Joseph Smith's open, exploratory approach to doctrine. The RO stance is little more than a thinly-veiled statement of aversion to change.
To sharpen his point, Jaxon prominently features in his post an excellent quote from Joseph Smith:
I have tried for a number of years to get the minds of the saints prepared to receive the things of God, but we frequently see some of them, after suffering all they have for the work of God, will fly to pieces like glass, as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions; they cannot stand the fire at all.
The implication here may be that RO is a stance to insulate us from new ideas that might be contrary to our traditions; if we were to really face a more "expansive" view of the restoration, we would "fly to pieces like glass."
Let's step back and talk about the larger picture of what is happening with so many of these discussions. In a recent discussion about Latter-Day Saints and the LGBTQ+ ally movement, I said this:
Throughout the history of the church, there have been several instances where we have seen the formation of a religion-within-a-religion, as a set of ideas and commitments morphs over time into its own religion. What are the indicators that something has become its own religion, either adjacent to or apart from a "mother" religion? I don't know if there is a definitive answer to that question, but here are some of my ideas:
– It has its own prophetic figures and teachers, whose pronouncements are seen to be more reflective of Gods mind and will than the pronouncements of the mother religion's prophetic figures
– It has its own rival theology
– It has rival sacraments
– It has its own conversion stories and deconversion stories
– It provides a new set of saints and heretics, "righteous" and "wicked" groups
– It has its own sacred texts
– It has rival approaches to scriptural exegesis
– It evaluates the mother religion's narratives and doctrines against external ideological frameworks that are seen to be more sound, or having more explanatory power
– It has a discrete community, to which people feel more devotion and belonging than the community of the mother religion
No one can serve two masters, and the objections to RO generally arise from this tension felt by people who have adopted a rival religion and are trying to remake the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the image of that new religion and its "traditions." Let's be clear that it is not the orthodox who fly to pieces like glass every general conference because something has been taught that is contrary to some cherished traditions. It is not the orthodox who fly to pieces like glass in the face of every secular intellectual fad. We don't fly to pieces like glass in the face of queer theory, critical theory, and other rival religious worldviews. We only care about them insofar as they contribute to church members' disillusionment with the covenant path. Without that concern, we would not give any of these ideologies the time of day.
Jaxon points out that the King Follett Sermon was radical in its time, and was rejected by people who simply couldn't handle its radical vision. This is true. In speaking of Joseph Smith, Jaxon gives voice to a view held by some that in Joseph's time, theology was open and dynamic. Big ideas were being discovered and debated. Now, the church has hardened into a cautious, conservative posture that cannot accommodate the amount of innovation needed for our day. And why do we need innovation? Because people are leaving the church, and marginalized groups in the church are hurting.
This view is not entirely wrong. In the forming, storming, norming, and performing model of organizational behavior, early church history was forming and storming. Those are times when most discoveries and decisions are big and disruptive. Later, as an organization becomes more mission-focused, the disruptive decisions and discoveries become less frequent, and most change is in the form of setting norms and making adjustments to enable continued performance.
In our day, we do need to make adjustments to help the marginalized among us. And – I know this sounds harsh – numerical losses are only one factor to consider in making adjustments. When large numbers of people "go away" (John 6:66), that is not always a sign that the message is the problem. Often, especially in light of Western therapeutization of religion, it's just a sign of problematic expectations. We know from scripture that our numbers are going to be small (1 Ne 14:12), and the use of numerically small groups has always been God's pattern of influence. And many of us know from our church service that 40 authentically-converted saints are capable of achieving more of God's purposes in the world than 4,000 unconverted people who see their faith commitments in terms of heritage or group identity, as indicated by the moniker "Mormon."
The other problem with this argument about numerical-loss-as-impetus-for-disruptive-change is that it ignores growth in Majority World places like Brazil and the African continent, where people are fulfilling Joseph's vision of living experiences of prophecy, visions, healings, revelation, and other gifts of the spirit while WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) Latter-Day Saints and Mormons live far below our spiritual privileges. The Majority World is the amazing future of the church, not privileged whites who argue endlessly over abstractions.
In the meantime, if in our day another radical, disruptive King Follett Sermon emerges from God's ordained prophets, it won't be the orthodox who fly to pieces like glass. We will gladly enlarge our ideological stakes if that is what is needed. We will simply continue our stance of making the best possible case for teachings that come from the prophets.
That is Not Gaslighting.
Carl Jung On the Inadequacy of Therapy for Treating Addiction
6 thoughts on "Responding to Jaxon Washburn's New Critique of RO"
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Jaxon Washburn
Great stuff, Dan. Appreciate the response. 🙂
Thank you for saying this. It needed to be said. The vocal minority are not actually interested in hearing the truth, in my experience, but we who try to hew close to the prophets' words need a reminder now and again that orthodoxy is not an evil position to take in the church. For example, when our leaders say we need to do better on hot-button issues like racism, then reiterate our doctrine: that each of us is a child of Deity – perhaps that means that our cultural take on racism is faulty and we should try to keep the two Great Commandments before adhering to society's views on the matter.
I could say the same about the vocal majority who have the privilege and power that makes them able to dismissively speak in terms of "the vocal minority". As if we're the ones dominating discourse about this in the pews.
I don't know Jaxon Washburn personally and only vaguely by reputation, so I don't intend this critique to be personal in any way.
But one could just as easily argue that progressive Mormons are progressive because they have accepted and internalized the peculiar Western ideals and traditions which underlie the modern phenomenon of progressivism. It is easy (to the point of being facile) to argue that THOSE traditions are the ones which, when contradicted by proper authority, cause their adherents to fly to pieces like glass.
Now apply that equally to conservative Mormons.


The Great Patriotic War became for the Soviet people the most terrible and heartrending experience. And however many has passed years, everything will be remembered by their feat and glory of our heroes never will grow dim. The Victory Day forever became the most joyful holiday, the most expensive and personal event. And, in spite of the fact that years alienate us from it farther and farther, the value of this day will never change, memories of heroism and courage of our people will never be forgotten and will be transferred to the next generations.
May 9 – A Victory Day in war over fascist Germany. This day the solemn program in celebration of a Victory Day in which traditional parade at the Palace Square is carried out on May 9 is prepared.
In St. Petersburg establish a little concert platform on which there take place speeches of actors in honour of a great holiday. All congratulate veterans, give them flowers and heartily thank.
Traditionally, the holiday comes to an end with a salute, under each volley people shout "Hurrah!" and sing military songs.
On May 9 – the most esteemed holiday, and a feat of the Soviet soldiers will never be forgotten by the country.
City news archive for 05 May' 2016.
City news archive for May' 2016.
City news archive for 2016 year.


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An overseas investor instructed Banda to find a lateral first-floor apartment in the Belgravia/Knightsbridge area. Viewing time was limited to a two-day window and our search team arranged appointments for a selection of properties that included several off market opportunities.
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The acknowledgement letter is useful to reply to the other person that you received his letter. This is also used to communicate the important information and assure the client that you are in receipt of his/her request or letter or compliant. This letter is used to express your thanks towards a particular person. You can use this letter to recognise the achievements and accomplishments of your client or your supplier or your worker.
On many occasions, you should reply to the other person, who have written letter to you, stating your acknowledgement of what he/she sent to you. Such a move of sending a letter acknowledging the receipt of the letter will position you among the top good-people with whom he/she may want to do business in the long-run.
This letter need not be a reply to a letter from your client or your supplier. As soon as you come to know of the achievements or accomplishments of your clients or your suppliers or your workers, you can write this letter to show your recognition. Such an attitude on your side will strengthen the bonds between you. Such a strong rapport will boost your business in the long term.
Develop the habit of writing a letter acknowledging the receipt of the letter or the parcel or the request or the complaint or whatever the case may be. Such a habit on your side will take you up in your professional ladder.


text:
namespace Perrich.RunAsService
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Interface for a service which wrap a command
    /// </summary>
    public interface IRunAsService
    {
        string Description { get; }
        string DisplayName { get; }
        void StartCommand();
        void Stop();
        bool IsStopped { get; }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Posted on Wednesday, November 30th, 2016 at 17.21.
Our Away League game at Royston Town has been moved, once again, to Tuesday 17 January, kick off 7:45pm.
The Fixture at Garden Walk, was scheduled for 6 December, but has been Postponed as Royston Town have to fulfil an FA Trophy Replay on this date.
Stadium Address: Royston Town Football Club, Garden Walk, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 7HP.


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Home Basketball
BasketballNCAA Basketball
Wisconsin Badgers Set to Visit Michigan in Big Ten Showdown
By Jacob Heid
MADISON, WI - JANUARY 07: Wisconsin Badgers head coach Greg Gard watches on during the men's college basketball game between the Indiana Hoosiers and Wisconsin Badgers on January 7, 2021, at the Kohl Center in Madison, WI. (Photo by Dan Sanger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Crisler Center may have no real fan noise tonight when two of the top team's tip-off at 6 pm CST, but Ann Arbor is all in on their Big Ten leading Michigan Wolverine basketball team. This is one of those games that you wish fans were actually going to be in attendance for because Wolverine fans would have the Crisler rocking in this Big Ten showdown.
Coming into tonight's match-up with the #9 ranked Wisconsin Badgers, Michigan is sitting pretty with a 10-0 undefeated record and a #7 ranking in the AP Top 25 polls. Wisconsin really brings in a new type of challenge for the Wolverines in Ann Arbor tonight.
Wisconsin is only one of two teams that have cradled a top 10 ranking in both adjusted offense and a defensive rating according to KenPom. No doubt Michigan has started out the year hot, so let's dig into how these two teams will clash against each other tonight.
Wisconsin Badgers Experience
What the Badgers bring to the table in the Big 10 this season is a chance to compete in games and have a chance at a title. Wisconsin's starting lineup consists of five seniors who have played together for a long time.
The one thing in this game that will stand out to Juwan Howard is the frontcourt duo of Micah Potter and Nate Reuvers. Not only does this duo bring in a lot of different skills all over the basketball court, but they also bring experience. I expect to see Reuvers matched up on Freshman sensation, Hunter Dickinson, who I will talk about later, and Potter matched up on Isaiah Livers.
Reuvers has the ability to move his feet very well for a 6'11 big man. He is an elite shot blocker as well, who will be able to alter a lot of Dickinson's shot attempts.
The guard play for the Wisconsin Badgers is exceptional as well, led by D'Mitrik Trice, who averages just about 15 points a game. If tonight is anywhere near a close game, Michigan will have to look to shut Trice down. He is as clutch as it gets.
EAST LANSING, MI – DECEMBER 25: Wisconsin Badgers guards Brad Davison (34) and D'Mitrick Trice (0) jog past each other during a college basketball game between the Michigan State Spartans and the Wisconsin Badgers on December 25, 2020 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing, MI.(Photo by Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Hunter Dickinson is the Head of the Snake
The freshman, Hunter Dickinson, has come on strong for the Wolverines to start this season. Dickinson is a huge part of why Michigan sits on top of the Big Ten and also why they are 10-0 on the year. Hunter, who stands at 7'1, averages 18 points and 8 rebounds a game. The Badgers will have a tough time trying to keep the freshman off of the glass in this game.
Looking at both teams, each will want to play the inside-out game trying to get some of those easy buckets down low. Easy to say now, but tonight there will be no "easy" buckets in the painted area. That's where the guards come in to play for each team as they will need to knock down some of those contested perimeter shots.
This matchup between Wisconsin and Michigan tonight will be a hard fought, front court shining showdown. It should be a really fun game to watch.
If you want to see some more of what I do, make sure to follow me on my Twitter, @worldofcollege1 and check out OvertimeHeroics.net for more sports updates!
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Jacob Heid
My name is Jacob Heid and I am currently pursuing a Journalism degree from Southern Illinois university. I have been at Overtime Heroics for about a year.
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Tina Barney zooms out in a new series of landscapes.
Known for her lush and precise portraits of upper-echelon American families, Tina Barney, in a new body of work, has reimagined her subjects at a distance. In Landscapes, her current exhibition at Paul Kasmin Gallery, she pans out from the individuals themselves, placing landscape at the forefront. Although many were taken in the last year (with a few, previously unseen works from the '80s), Barney's East Coast landscapes strike a similar mood as her previous work. In an interview from 1995, Barney noted that her photographs "are based on nostalgia, not only on the nostalgia of this place as opposed to the West Coast where I was living, but also nostalgia for my own childhood." More than two decades later, in these large-scale color prints, Barney depicts classic scenes celebrating American traditions: Fourth of July parades, state fairs, tennis courts, beachside barbecues, and a high school sporting event sprinkled with cheerleaders and marching band players. Barney's landscapes expand upon the theatricality of American wealth and prosperity, and widen the stage she has been working on throughout her career. Even in the most still moments or sparsely-populated scenes, these works appear choreographed by tradition.
Tina Barney: Landscapes is on view at Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, through March 3, 2018.


We have just received some pictures of the soon to be released, 3rd in line figure for Warbotron's WB-01 Combiner. We have WB-01C, Sly Strike, or as most of you will notice him looking like Swindle of the combaticons. Check out the gallery pics.


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UI Faculty Senate votes 'no confidence' in regents
Jeff Charis-Carlson
jcharisc@press-citizen.com
The University of Iowa Faculty Senate, for the second time in nine years, issued a vote of "no confidence" Tuesday in the Iowa Board of Regents, the latest escalation in a contentious presidential appointment.
The senate resolution came five days after the regents unanimously voted to name former IBM executive J. Bruce Harreld as the 21st UI president. A previous vote of no confidence in 2006 also came after a presidential search.
Although Harreld has taught in the Harvard Business School and Northwestern University, he has no experience in university administration. The other three finalists for the position included two university provosts and a college president.
"The regents said they wanted faculty involved with this process," UI Faculty Senate President Christina Bohannan told a standing-room-only crowd in the Senate chamber of the Old Capitol. "They said that they wanted to hear from us, that they respected our viewpoints. And at the end, they clearly did not."
At least 46 members of the 80-member senate raised hands to vote for the largely symbolic measure, which said the regents had failed the university and the state's citizens by hiring Harreld. The motion said the regents had shown a "blatant disregard for the shared nature of university governance" and failed to live up to its own standards for ethics, communication, transparency and other values. The senate includes representatives from all academic units and is the principal channel of communication between faculty and the administration
It is unclear what, if any, effect the vote will have on relations between UI and the regents, which seem to be at the lowest point since the failed presidential search of 2006, in which the regents rejected all of the finalists put forward by a search committee. The resulting "no confidence" vote from the Faculty Senate — and a new gubernatorial administration — helped persuade the regents to begin the search anew, with a committee led by a UI dean. That search led to the hiring of Sally Mason, who retired this summer after eight years as president.
Tuesday's vote is unlikely to cause the regents to reconsider the five-year contract Harreld signed Thursday.
In a statement released after Tuesday's vote, Board President Bruce Rastetter noted the regents' decision came after listening "to all stakeholder feedback as well as having frank conversations with each of the candidates."
"The board unanimously thought Bruce Harreld's experience in transitioning other large enterprises through change, and his vision for reinvesting in the core mission of teaching and research, would ultimately provide the leadership needed," Rastetter said in the statement. "We are disappointed that some of those stakeholders have decided to embrace the status quo of the past over opportunities for the future and focus their efforts on resistance to change instead of working together to make the University of Iowa even greater."
Yet the regents could not have been surprised by Tuesday's vote.
Bohannan, who also served on the 21-member UI Search and Screen Committee, sent an email to the regents Sept. 2, the day before Harreld's hiring, warning the board that "choosing Mr. Harreld would destroy the goodwill that the Faculty Senate and the Regents have worked so hard to establish."
"There is no doubt that, if Mr. Harreld is chosen, some members of the Faculty Senate would demand a no-confidence vote in the Regents," Bohannan wrote in the email, which was released Tuesday. "Whatever the outcome of that vote, it is hard to see how the Regents' relationship with faculty could thrive under such circumstances."
Similarly critical reactions to Harreld's hiring have been issued by the graduate employee union, COGS UE Local 896, and the UI chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
Bohannan, who had never publicly criticized the search process until Tuesday, set the tone for the discussion that followed when she used "betrayal" and "traumatic event" to describe the regents' promise of involving the campus community as equal partners in the search.
"I think this university has been betrayed — faculty, staff, students, all betrayed," she said
A motion for a "no confidence" vote was introduced early in the meeting. Debate focused on whether the motion should include Harreld — who is not scheduled to begin the job until Nov. 2 — and whether such as statement would damage the reputation of the faculty and university with the Legislature and the rest of the state.
After nearly 90 minutes of discussion, the final version of the motion focused on only the regents, asserting that the board had failed to live up to its own standards for ethics, communication, honestly and transparency articulated in its strategic plan.
A handful of faculty members spoke in favor of delaying such a vote until a later meeting, but the final vote was greeted with cheers among the hundreds of faculty in the room.
"In retrospect, one of the most painful and divisive issues about this search is that it probably should have been a closed search," Bohannan said. "It would have been preferable to where we are right now. Because we would have gotten the exact same result. The problem with this so-called open search is that it dragged a lot of faculty down with it."
Jimmy Centers, a spokesman for Gov. Terry Branstad, said in a statement the governor supports the regents and Harreld.
"The governor believes that now is the time to move forward and position Iowa, our students and our regents institutions for the future," Centers said.
Reach Jeff Charis-Carlson at 319-887-5435 or jcharisc@press-citizen.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jeffcharis. The Associated Press contributed to this report.


Trying to figure out how the rear side panel where the fuses/electrics are comes of.. i'm fitting a tow bar and have to wire in the electrics etc..
I cant see any screws etc.... any ideas ??
From memory, most of it clips in but there is a bolt in the recess where the rear luggage cover sits.
I'm at this stage too, it says to disconnect the battery before doing any wiring, i've read battery is under driver seat, and there is a remote charge terminal under bonnet.
the manual is not very helpful on this, do you disconnect battery under bonnet or under seat?
once connected again do you have to do anything, such as window resetting or stuff?
Any idea what size nuts these are that are holding onth ebumper to the chassis.. look sliek you need a box spanner or very long socket ???
they are 10mm, use a deep socket with extension bar.
little tip for not losing the nuts, put a little bit of blu tack around the edge of the socket. same for putting them back on. it was quite easy.
remove these first then all the torx screws, then the bumper unclips at the sides, it flex's fine, pull outwards at the top each side, then slide it back, wiring was attached at right end.
you can rest bumper on floor to do the rest, remove the foam bits before you try to put on towbar unit.
Right putting bumper back on , use dblue tack wich was great ... BUT DROPPED DEEP 10MM SOCKET into chassis !!!!!
Is there anyway to get this out ?? unless u have micro hands ????
I have a flexi snake, but it son its way to portugal with my sports bike.. i fly out for 3 days at Park Algar tommorrow !!!
When i get back i'll write a full report on DIY towbar and Audi wiring kit.. the pitfalls etc..


November was a pretty big month for gaming, and titles like Battlefield 1 and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare made quite a splash. Sony has announced, via the PlayStation Blog, the top downloaded titles for both PS4 and PS3. Final Fantasy XV also takes the third spot on the PS4 list – impressive, considering it was released at the tail end of the month.
It's also interesting to see Overwatch placing fairly high on the list as well – a testament to how welcoming Blizzard's new shooter is, especially since it was released back in May.
Battlefield 1 and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare are now available on consoles and PC.
Which is the Best "Green Monday" PS4 Deal for Christmas?


Politicians forget (ignore?) basic economics.
Let's rewrite a few headlines to illustrate the point.
The original headline reads, "Supervisor looks to limit liquor licenses." Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval seeks to add a ballot measure banning any future City liquor licenses.
This legislation will not reduce violence. It will increase the value of liquor licenses for private individuals or corporations that own existing licenses. It will also inconvenience taxpaying citizens that desire liquor products, especially those in growing areas such as Mission Bay that have yet to develop retail outlets. Why are these people to be inconvenienced with no liquor stores in their new community just because we have a stupid Supervisor?
Correlation does not indicate causation. At best, a high prevalence of liquor stores may be correlated with lower income or high violence, but in no way does the presence or lack of liquor stores serve as a cause or solution to violence.
The original headline reads, "Bill aims to maintain rent-controlled units." State Senator Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) introduced a bill Wednesday that would allow local governments to order property owners to replace every demolished rent-control unit with an equivalent rent-control unit somewhere else in the City.
Rent control is a price ceiling. Price ceilings don't work.
Politicians, if this is the best you can do, please just stop making any new legislation. Go back to scolding sports celebrities.
By the way, this is a prime example of hippie conservatism.
This entry was posted in econ, politics and tagged alcohol, california, control, development, econ, economics, license, licensing, liquor, macro, micro, permit, permitting, price, price controls, properties, rent, rent control, rental, sales, san francisco, sf. Bookmark the permalink.


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Herman, J. M. (2011). Proton Therapy in an Era of Cost Containment, Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network J Natl Compr Canc Netw, 9(8), 821-825. Retrieved Jan 21, 2020, from https://jnccn.org/view/journals/jnccn/9/8/article-p821.xml
Herman, Joseph M. "Proton Therapy in an Era of Cost Containment". Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network J Natl Compr Canc Netw 9.8: 821-825. < https://doi.org/10.6004/jnccn.2011.0071>. Web. 21 Jan. 2020.
Herman, Joseph M. "Proton Therapy in an Era of Cost Containment", Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network J Natl Compr Canc Netw 9, 8: 821-825, accessed Jan 21, 2020, https://doi.org/10.6004/jnccn.2011.0071
Herman, J. M. (2011). Proton Therapy in an Era of Cost Containment. Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network J Natl Compr Canc Netw 9, 8, 821-825, available from: < https://doi.org/10.6004/jnccn.2011.0071> [Accessed 21 January 2020]


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Connecticut regulators look to drop renewable energy option
Chamber On the Move: 'Rising to Challenges of COVID-19' talk this week
Defunct mortgage firm to take CT to court over delayed ruling
Whey Station owner back for third round on 'Chopped'
Chamber On the Move: Bysiewicz, federal, state leaders to talk business...
'This brings stability': Stimulus spurs hopes for Connecticut jobs...
Chamber On the Move: Promises for year ahead
Chamber On the Move: Looking back on a challenging year
Lawmakers step in as fuel cell makers decry state contracts
Middletown Citizens Bank Summer Fun Run now virtual
Dec. 2, 2016 Updated: Aug. 12, 2017 5:23 a.m.
NEW BRITAIN >> State utility regulators have given preliminary approval to ending a program that allowed residential electric customers to pay a premium on their monthly bills to support renewable energy.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority issued a preliminary ruling Friday that would terminate the Connecticut Clean Energy Options Program at the end of the year. The roughly 25,000 customers of the three third-party energy providers that are part of the program would have until the end of June to find other options in the competitive energy marketplace that support renewable power options, according to the draft decision.
"Since the 2003 legislation was first enacted, the CCEO Program was created to be an alternative transitional generation service component for ratepayers," the ruling issued by PURA Commissioner John Betkoski III and Michael Caron says in part.
"For more than a decade, the CCEO Program has successfully provided a previously unavailable option for ratepayers and served as a vehicle for promoting and supporting voluntary renewable energy ... which lowered the barriers to market entry for clean energy suppliers. Today, the current renewable market reveals an abundance of green options available to Connecticut ratepayers through various alternative programs and numerous green offerings by competitive suppliers."
But officials with Connecticut's Officer of Consumer Counsel says eliminating the CCEO program fails to provide residential ratepayers with protections to ensure that they are getting what they are paying for. Additionally, Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz said customers of third-party power providers wouldn't be protected against questionable tactics used in the retail marketplace to promote offerings that support renewable energy.
"There just aren't sufficient protections built into what PURA is proposing," Katz said. "There would be no verification that the premium that consumers would be paying in the retail marketplace to support renewable energy was legitimate."
Katz said the CCEO program is difficult for consumers to grasp.
The premiums that those who support green energy pay on top of their electric bill doesn't involve the delivery of electrons produced from renewable sources, said Joe Rosenthal, OCC's principal attorney. It involves the exchange of renewable energy credits, which boosts the overall development of "green power" around the country, but does nothing to reduce the monthly electric costs of ratepayers participating in the program.
A hearing on PURA's draft ruling will be held at PURA's headquarters in New Britain Dec. 12.
PURA is a regulatory agency within the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Dennis Schain, a spokesman for DEEP, said Friday that the CCEO program "was developed at a time that renewable energy was still in its infancy."
"It offered a way to engage the public in supporting the development and deployment of renewables," Schain said. "PURA's draft decision concludes that the program has served a good purpose, but has run its course. If this decision becomes final, the question before us will be whether the numerous renewable energy options now available to electric customers by energy suppliers are sufficient to accomplish the goals of this program and whether improvements in those programs can and should be made to accomplish that goal."
A spokeswoman with the Connecticut Fund for The Environment, a New Haven-based organization, declined comment on the draft decision until officials with the group had a chance to review it.
The draft decision comes a little more than month after Katie Dykes was named PURA's chairwoman. Dykes left her job as a deputy commissioner of DEEP and the agency's point person on energy policy to become a PURA commissioner at the end of October.
She replaced Arthur House, PURA's previous chairman, after he became the state's new Cyber Security Risk Officer.
Although Dykes' name was not on the decision, Joel Gordes, a West Hartford-based energy consultant, said the concerns of CFE and OCC may warrant some concern.
"I would be considerably concerned if Connecticut Clean Energy Options Program is eliminated because it makes (the) choice harder for consumers and discourages support of renewable energy," Gordes said.
As a quasi-judicial body, PURA is required to make its ruling based upon testimony that is given at public hearings or sent to the agency. The regulatory agency previously had been independent before the Malloy administration brought it under the control of DEEP in 2011.
Gordes has said that Connecticut is the only state in New England where a utility regulatory agency is not an entirely independent body.
Call Luther Turmelle at 203-680-9388.