Well my picks were off, to say the least! No shortage of surprises this morning from Mr. Harper.

1. House leader - Rob Nicholson

2. International Trade and Pacific Gateway - David Emmerson - Crossed the Floor this morning! Was the Liberal Minister of Industry, brought on board personaly by Paul Martin. Can't wait to hear the story behind this one!


3. Minister of Labour and Housing - Jean-Pierre Blackburn

4. Minister of Veterans Affairs - Greg Thompson

5. Leader of Government in the Senate - Marjorie Lebreton

6. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration - Monte Solberg

7. Minister of Agriculture - Chuck Strahl

8. Minister of Natural Resources - Gary Lunn - I thought they would roll this portfolio in with Environment.

9. Minister of Foreign Affairs - Peter MacKay

10. Minister of Fisheries and Oceans - Loyola Hearn - Woo Hoo! I got one right!

11. Minister of Public Safety - Stockwell Day - Sadly, I was right on this one too.

12. Minister of National Revenue and Minister of Western Economic Diversification - Carol Skelton

13. Minister of Justice - Vic Toews

14. Minister of Environment - Rona Ambrose

15. Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Sport - Michael Chong

16. Minister of Human Resources - Diane Finley

17. Minister of National Defence - Gordon O'Connor

18. Minister of Heritage and Status of Women - Bev Oda - Number 4 on my 'only got the obvious ones' list.

19. Minister of Indian Affairs - Jim Prentice

20. Treasury Board - John Baird

21. Minister of Industry - Maxime Bernier

22. Minister of Transport - Lawrence Cannon

23. Minister of Health - Tony Clement *shudder*

24. Minister of Finance - Jim Flaherty - Who would have thunk that these Conservatives would re-brand themselves Mike Harris' Conservatives with wounds to both the fiscal state and health care systems in Canada's most populous province still unhealed... *double shudder*

25. Minister of International Cooperation and official Languages - Josee Verner

26. Minister of Public Works and Government Services - Michael Fortier - Unelected Campaign Co-chair for the Conservatives. Didn't Harper say he would not have unelected members in his cabinet? Huh. According to CBC he is going into the Senate. Shocking.

and of course, the Prime Minister makes Twenty-Seven.

Never a dull moment here on the Hill...

CBC Newsworld just did a spot on the expected estimated loss of productivity to Canada's workforce this coming Monday in the wake of Superbowl overindulgence and excitement. This story, while reminding that I still need to figure who is playing and whether or not we have any exciting plans for Sunday, served to highlight the fact that I somehow missed hearing who won the Greycup this year. Sigh. And I call myself a sports fan...

Ok, now that the election is over and my boss won her seat I am settling back into life in Ottawa. That means adjusting to the slow sinking realization that we are no longer in government. Such a realization leads to an endless list of yet to be answered questions such as will we have to move offices, will Karen continue to serve as whip, and is there an OLO swichboard? It also means that political hacks the country over are speculating about who will be taking leadership roles in Mr. Harper's new government. Which leads me to the purpose of this long overdue post - Conservative Cabinet Predictions from Babzerz:

My overarching prediction is that Alberta's representation at the table will not be as limited as the pundits predict. That province is still the backbone of the Conservative Party, holds many experienced party-founding MP’s that carry with them Harper’s trust. He will not be afraid to reward these people, and I don’t see him being bullied into over-representing Central Canada for the sake of staying consistent with previous Cabinets (spoken like a true Albertan I’m sure)… I also think Harper will shrink the cabinet size, and combine (or recombine) several ministries as his minority allows.

I needed to get these up before the announcements are made late this week or early next, but will try to add more rationale and maybe make some changes as time allows bfore real decisions are made.

1. Finance - Monte Solberg (AB). He's smart, he's capable, proven effective in the house and in committee, and he's got Harper's trust. Who care's that he's also from Alberta (remember that Alberta is still the backbone of this party)- Harper will want someone he can count on in this post.

2. Health - IF Diane Ablonczy does not get Immigration, she will get this. I can't pick anyone, I don’t like anyone in Harper's caucus for this role. In fact, I would really like to suggest he make Carolyn Bennett Health Minister, but I'm not thinking he's going to be taking my advice. These upper positions are hard to fill... I think that Health will actually have to be someone from Ontario. Diane Finley is probably as good a choice as any... and guaranteed to hold a position of some sway.

3. Foreign Affairs and Deputy PM - Lawrence Cannon (QC) - not that it makes much sense to have your Foreign Affairs Minister be your DPM, but I think this is the post that suits Cannon best. Harper may just make him Deputy PM and not have a department attached to it. In which case there is more hand wringing about who would be Foreign Affairs.

4. Defense - Jean Pierre Blackburn (QC)

5. Public Safety/anti terrorism etc. Stockwell Day (BC) - had to put him somewhere...

6. Justice - Peter Mackay (NS) I agree witht he pundits on this one.

7. Intergovernmental Affairs/Privy Council - Rona Ambrose (AB) And this one. She is probably their brightest star.

8. Immigration - Diane Ablonczy (AB)

9. Fisheries and Oceans - Loyola Hearn (NL)

10. Heritage - Bev Oda (ON)

11. Agriculture - David L. Anderson (SK)

12. Treasury Board - Jim Flaherty (ON)

13. Accountability, Gommery implementation or some incarnation thereof - Scot Reid (ON)

14. Environment - Bob Mills (AB)

15. PWGS - Rob Nicholson (ON)

16. Francophonie (or some incarnation thereof) - Josee Verner (QC)

17. Infrastructure - Garth Turner (ON)

18. House Leader and all things procedural - Jay Hill (BC)

19. Human Resources/Labour - Norman Doyle (NL)

20. Industry - Gary Goodyear (ON)

21. Transport - Stephen Fletcher (MB)

22. Revenue Canada - Jason Kenny (AB)

23. Atlantic Opportunities/development - Greg Thompson (NB)

24. Aboriginal Affairs - Jim Prentice (AB)

25. Veterans Affairs - Gordon O'Connor (ON)

26. International Trade - Gerald Keddy (NS)

27. Sport - James Moore (BC)

28. Some incarnation of Economic Development and Northern Development - Gerry Ritz (SK)

29. CIDA - Helena Guergis (ON)

30. Social Development - ??? Peter Van Loan (ON)

Speaker - Chuck Strahl (BC)

Whip - Dick Harris or John Baird

Also slated for some increased parliamentary responsibility - Rahim Jaffr, James Rajotte, and Vic Toews, but it's hard to say in what capacity.