Via Matthew Fletcher's blog I learned that Maclean's columnist and blogger Paul Wells is running a little poll on his site:

Would the federal Cabinet be improved if Stéphane Dion were kicked out and Jean Lapierre, the cheerful radio host and TV anchor who co-founded the Bloc Québécois and sat for a time next to Lucien Bouchard in the Commons, were recruited back into government by Paul Martin?

ADDENDUM, Wednesday evening: A reader writes: "Wow, is that a biased question!!! How 'bout a bit of history for your readers.. (Lapierre) actually WAS a Liberal MP but left after Meech was defeated." There. Now it's less biased. Keep those answers coming, folks. None of your names will be posted on this site, I seek only your anonymous opinion.

Well, I think that if we're going to have a healthy attention on Canadian affairs in the blogosphere, it doesn't hurt to answer these sorts of questions online. Paul Wells might not be ready to link to other bloggers, but the rest of us are already responding and linking to him.

My answer to the question is no, I think probably not.

I admit that I don't know a whole lot about M. Lapierre. I hope and I assume that if Paul Martin is considering him for cabinet that he is no longer a self-proclaimed sovereignist.

In fact, maybe he's a great guy, and he's obviously very popular. But to replace the author of the Clarity Act with a founder of the Bloc Quebecois does not feel like a step in the right direction to me. (For the record, I was decidely anti-Meech, even if I was still in high school.)

I hope Paul Martin isn't going to try to be Mulroney all over again.

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