[Shawnski]

Interesting perspective from the Vancouver Sun on this....

All the hue and cry over floor-crossing Liberal David Emerson and unelected, soon-to-be-senator Michael Fortier vaulting straight onto the Tory front bench merely drives home the point.

"This seems to be a clear nod toward quite a pragmatic, centrist style of government," said Allan Tupper, a political scientist at the University of British Columbia.

Put another way, the old grassroots Reform party is dead, dead, dead.

With just three Alberta ministers - and as many from Ontario (nine) as all four western provinces combined - Harper has rejected playing up the old West Wants In slogan.

In fact, with western Liberal MPs having held the finance, health, industry and deputy prime minister jobs under the former Paul Martin government, David Taras of the University of Calgary argues that real cabinet influence has actually shifted east.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/na...1df7d4&k=52829