Forgive the quality of the picture (it’s a screen grab) and the quality of the minister (it’s a Van Loan.)

None of this should stop you from regarding this image from outside Rideau Hall and making with the funny.

To recap, Stockwell Day is a winner, moving from International Trade to President of the Treasury Board to handle the difficult task of enforcing fiscal discipline on government operations. Peter Van Loan is a loser, demoted from Public Safety to International Trade because the Prime Minister was dissatisfied with his performance, even though Day’s move from Public Safety to International Trade a little over a year ago was seen as an important promotion to a pivotal file. Meanwhile, Vic Toews, who seemingly couldn’t be trusted to oversee the difficult task of enforcing fiscal discipline on government operations, moves from Treasury Board to Public Safety, where he will be charged with a massive review of national security.

Conventional perception seems to have Stockwell Day, Christian Paradis and Rona Ambrose rising, Lisa Raitt and Peter Van Loan falling. Keith Ashfield gets a promotion to cabinet, Rob Moore gets to call himself a minister of state.

Early reviews from the Canadian Press, Globe, Star, Canwest, Reuters, Bloomberg, CBC and CTV.

If CP has it right, Lisa Raitt is now tracing Rona Ambrose’s career arc all the way to cabinet obscurity.

The biggest surprise may be that controversy-prone Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt, once a rising star in the party who rocketed to cabinet within weeks of her first election win in October 2008, is getting demoted.

The high-profile Raitt ran into trouble last year when she was caught on tape criticizing some of her fellow ministers. Raitt will stay in the cabinet, but in the relatively obscure Labour post.

Canadian Press has Christian Paradis going to Natural Resources in Raitt’s place, Rona Ambrose going to Public Works to replace Paradis, Peter Van Loan replacing Stockwell Day at International Trade, Day replacing Vic Toews at Treasury, Toews replacing Van Loan at Public Safety and Jean-Pierre Blackburn going to Veterans Affairs to replace the retiring Greg Thompson.

Sources tell CTV that terrorists might be headed to Canada with the intent to enter the United States.

Insiders say this potential threat — and what to do about it — was discussed with the prime minister and his national security ministers on Monday.

The Prime Minister’s Office has helpfully sent the press gallery these 13 seconds of video (sadly, no audio) of the Prime Minister receiving a “national security briefing” from four of his ministers. Interesting to note that Peter Van Loan is apparently not allowed to sit or speak during these meetings and must, instead, hover silently at the Prime Minister’s side.

The Salvation Army hit the Hill and schmoozed with MPs. Below, Justin Trudeau arrives at the reception.

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The Direct Sellers Association of Canada (DSA) held a reception in 200 West Block that featured tables filled with things Tupperware and Mary Kay products. Public Safetly Minister Peter Van Loan (left) with DSA president Ross Creber.

Speaker Peter Milliken.

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In the first few months of 2007, the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan was discussed during 14 sessions of Question Period: February 6, February 12, February 13, February 21, February 27, March 1, March 2, March 19, March 20, March 21, March 22, March 23, March 26 and March 29. It was on the morning of March 19, that Gordon O’Connor apologized to the House for misleading it about the monitoring of detainees by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Herein, a collection of some of the relevant exchanges during this period. Continue…

The Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians held a dinner in the Fairmont Château Laurier ballroom. Below, former Reform MP Deb Grey.

Former NDP leader Ed Broadbent (right) and NDP MP Yvon Godin.

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Peter Van Loan, Thursday. I received it and looked at just recently, in recent days.

Toronto Star, today. Responding by email to questions from the Star, RCMP Sgt. Greg Cox said late Friday the force submitted its 2008 firearms report on Oct. 9, four weeks ago.

Strolling casually around the House of Commons foyer yesterday, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan happens upon a group of reporters. A delightful exchange of pleasantries follows.

Question: How long have you had the report from the Commissioner of Firearms?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: The report from the Commissioner of Firearms has to be tabled tomorrow which it will be.  I know that some information – some information on it will be coming out shortly.  Some of it has already been released in the public accounts.  The one that I know has attracted some interest is the number of times that the police access it which is close to three and a half million times.  What’s very interesting about that statistic is of those three and a half million times only 2.4 percent of the time is it actually information about the registration of a long-gun that would eliminated by the long-gun registry.  If the bill to eliminate the long-gun registry is passed and becomes law, 97 percent of the times that the police utilize that information from the firearms centre would continue to be in place because of course the bill does not eliminate the requirement for licensing of gun owners and only, as I said, 2.4 percent of those queries had to do with information related to long-gun registration.

Question: (Inaudible)

Hon. Peter Van Loan: I am referring to the 2008 statistics.  And what’s more interesting -

Question: (Inaudible)

Hon. Peter Van Loan: If I could finish, what’s more interesting -

Question: You haven’t answered my question once yet though.

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Last spring, just after Prime Minister Stephen Harper revived scrapping the gun registry as a Conservative priority, I tried to find out how useful the registry is to police.

What I found out then seems relevant right now given this evening’s vote in the House to get rid of the federal system for keeping track of who owns rifles and shotguns.

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The Scene. The Prime Minister’s chair, as an inanimate object, was unlikely to answer. But Michael Ignatieff insisted on asking anyway.

“Mr. Speaker, today we learn from the Auditor General that, for its entire time in office, the government has failed to develop any national emergency preparedness plan. That includes planning for epidemics and pandemics like H1N1. Does that not begin to explain why the government’s response to this crisis has been so slow and confused?” he wondered aloud. ”We have heard from the Minister of Health. When will we begin to hear from the Prime Minister? When will he stand up, take responsibility for the government’s mistakes and correct the situation?”

The Prime Minister was otherwise engaged with escorting the Prince and Camilla around rural Newfoundland. John Baird, Mr. Harper’s de facto deputy, was away as well, while the Health Minister was in Vancouver. No worries though, because this seemed to be a question about emergency preparedness and that is distinctly the purview of the Public Safety Minister and that minister, the typically unshy Peter Van Loan, was most certainly in his seat.

And yet, here came Tony Clement, the Minister of Industry and master flailler of arms.

“Mr. Speaker, let me dwell in the realm of facts,” Mr. Clement boldly offered. “The fact of the matter is that there have been six million doses of H1N1 vaccine that have already been delivered to the provinces and territories.

“That’s what you said yesterday!” lamented a Liberal.

“We currently have more H1N1 vaccine per capita than any other country in the world,” Mr. Clement reviewed. “The vaccine is being distributed as quickly as it is being produced and there will be sufficient H1N1 vaccine available in Canada for everyone who in fact needs or wants to be immunized.”

“Merry Christmas!” chirped a Liberal, yesterday’s points and counterpoints now sufficiently covered. Continue…