"he-he - I just found out which cabinet position Emerson was given. Looks like Minister of the Olympic Games or something........"

Um, no: the (not very) Honourable Mr. Emerson has just taken the oath as Minister of International Trade, a really important portfolio, especially in BC. He's our man in charge of getting that huge trading partner to the south of us to comply with court rulings on the softwood lumber tariff, among other things.

I hear that International Trade and Foreign Affairs are again in the process of merging (having been integrated in 1993, under Kim Campbell, and split around 2000 [I think], under Chrétien), so Mr. Emerson may lose his seat on the front bench to a departmental reorganization.