If you can’t beat ‘em, hire one to join you

Hey, did you hear the news? Stephen Harper just hired a Toronto elitist as his new chief of staff.

Nigel Wright, according to the Globe and Mail, will be “a right-hand man with little political or election campaign experience, but who has one of the finest business minds in the country…

“Those who know both men,” the Globe and Mail adds, “say Mr. Wright is one of the few people that Mr. Harper will listen to because he is one of the few who Mr. Harper believes is as smart as he is.”

Wright will replace current chief of staff Guy Giorno by the end of the year. And believe it or not, his presence in the party could lead to some positive results for Canadians in general.

For one thing, Wright is said to be less of a partisan than Harper’s other advisers – and certainly less partisan than Giorno, who many blame for the fact that 2010 has been such a tough year for the Conservatives.

For another, while the Globe and Mail notes that Wright is “thought to be well to the right on economic issues,” they also note that he seems to have “no interest at all in social conservatism.”

They also acknowledge that “they don’t come more Toronto or more elite than Nigel Wright, with his Trinity College degree and his Bay Street office address.”

If nothing else, it should be something to watch. Bringing a renowned dealmaker into a position currently held by a rabid partisan could certainly bring about a change in the day-to-day business of the federal government. And depending on your point of view, bringing on a man with such a mind for business either shows that the Tories have made the economy a major priority, or that they at least want everybody to think they have.

It also shows that they’re still really eager to avoid another election for the time being. “If someone wants to take from this that we would rather focus on the economy than on an election,” an unnamed government official stated, “they’d be right.” Which is code, once again, for “We’d get spanked if we went to the polls in the fall, and we know it.”

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