Chantal Hebert

I'm trying to be diplomatic for once.

No, not too bad.

I watched the appointment.

It wasn't big news in the sense that everyone knew it was coming of Jonathan Wilkinson's death.

to a diplomatic post at the EU.

And it made me realize that increasingly the people who were the serious players in the climate file are outside the loop.

Mr. Wilkinson was the first minister of the environment for Justin Trudeau.

And Stephen Gidbo was the second, and both of them were effective voices on the file.

And Mr. Wilkinson in particular did not ever come across as someone who would have you hug a tree, but who could walk you.

And in theory, I think a year ago, a lot of people believed that Mark Carney and Jonathan Wilkinson could be people who kind of meshed together in their work.

somewhat business-like approach to the climate file.

And that's not been really happening.

I think it's a loss to the government to have people like that sit on the outside or leave the government altogether.

And I also think increasingly we're going to see pressure.

We're seeing some of it in the media today.

There will be more pressure.

pressure on the prime minister to address the weaknesses in this cabinet, because they are increasingly glaring.

The environment is one, but immigration is another.

And I could name a few more.

And that starts to add up, despite Mr. Carney's assertion that he's in no rush to rejig his team, because it's such a great team.