The highly anticipated Paul Martin Cabinet was unveiled today with some new faces and some old. When all is said and done, PM Martin's pre-election cabinet includes 10 Ministers from the Chrétien administration and 17 backbenchers (Martin included) have been elevated to the world of Challenger jets and chauffeurs. Rounding out the Ministry are 27 parliamentary secretaries.

Post swearing-in media scrums, which are vacuous at the best of times, had each new Minister singing from the same song sheet . . . "I will take this job seriously . . .I'm looking forward to my new duties . . . Paul Martin is the most wonderful person." Yada, yada, yada.

Two Manitoba MPs are included in the list of the chosen ones - Reg Alcock (a long-time Martin supporter who's dues have finally paid off) now finds himself in the powerful position as President of the Treasury Board and Minister Responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board. Very few spending decisions are made on Parliament Hill without the Treasury Board's approval so Mr. Alcock will likely have many challenges ahead of him, particularly if he wants to be viewed as remaining loyal to the West and still acting in the best interests of the country.

Rey Pagtakhan has managed to hold onto a coveted Cabinet posting as Minister of Western Economic Diversification (a.k.a. Wasted Effort & Dollars). WED, which was required to write-off over $11 million in loans last year is the federal government's poster child for corporate welfare in Western Canada. Created in 1987 (thank you Brian Mulroney), WED's core mandate is to hand out business subsidies. Of course that is not the description you will find on their website, but when you decipher the bureaucratic language, WED is nothing more than a taxpayer funded bank for businesses.

The message that Paul Martin is sending is one of "engagement and inclusion" according to Ralph Goodale, a Saskatchewan MP and newly minted Minister of Finance. He, along with Edmonton MP Anne McLellan, who moves from Health to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness look to be the big winners in this new government.

Of course, these two appointments are designed to deflate legitimate and measurable grievances in Western Canada that the Chrétien government basically ignored issues west of Wawa, Ontario. From softwood lumber hardships in BC to democratic reform demands centered in Alberta to real agriculture issues from rural depopulation to unfair U.S. and European subsidies that our hurting farmers across the prairies, real and festering concerns exist.

Only time will tell, whether this Cabinet is radically different than the tired and ethically challenged Chrétien administration that governed poorly over the past decade. However, there are indications that the direction of the Martin administration will likely be costly for taxpayers if the new "interventionist titles" in Mr. Martin's rejigged machinery of government are any indication.

To grasp the interventionist regime that Paul Martin envisages for Canada, one need's to examine the job titles of the 27 parliamentary secretaries and their "special emphasis" responsibilities. From science to entrepreneurship to public-private partnerships to value-added industries (doesn't everybody try to add value ), it seems that for every problem or issue imaginable, Mr. Martin is opening a window of government to tackle and/or tinker with said issue. This approach was disastrously employed by former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau for 16 years and landed the country in big heap of national debt.

While it is only day one of the Martin era, it will be a Merry Christmas for some Liberals but an unhappy New Year for taxpayers.