Remember the fake security meeting Harper held a week ago? Remember people asked why Peter Van Loan wasn't given a chair at the meeting?Looks like we've got an answer:
Aides in several ministers' offices, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said that Raitt was not the only minister that Mr. Harper and his inner circle were dissatisfied with:they were also said to be unhappy with Mr. Van Loan on the public safety file.
And:
In for a demotion along with Ms. Raitt is Peter Van Loan, whom colleagues said was less than able at managing the security agencies reporting to him while he served as Public Safety minister.
Note how anonymous colleagues were happy to trash talk Van Loan to the papers as word of the shuffle got out.
So in fact, his positioning in the above photo (and video footage) may have been a subtle form of public humiliation, just as many commenters originally speculated.
Ottawa: the Kremlin sans vodka.
