Loosening the belt

From Saturday's editorial in the Telegram:

It’s good, however, that Williams decided to keep the cabinet down to the size it was following the last election, and has not given in to the urge to bulk up the ranks.

...

Standing pat is at least better news than an increase — still, there are valid arguments that a province the size of this one might not need quite so many seats around the table.

It’s an argument worth making — and one that both the Liberals and the Conservatives made before Williams came to power in 2003.

The Liberals said they would have a cabinet with a maximum of 16. The Tories?

“We would certainly reduce cabinet. As to the exact number, that’s not something I’ve really finalized.”

Williams did say the Grimes administration was bloated at 19 cabinet members, and Williams brought in a 14-member cabinet when first elected.

But cabinets, like waistlines, seem to expand with age.

Indeed, as this handy-dandy chart of the number of provincial cabinet ministers (including the Premier) and parliamentary secretaries over the past decade or so shows. Dates are the date of cabinet shuffles or other coughTomRideoutcough changes:

But, hey, good on that Danny Williams for keeping the full cabinet down to one entire minister fewer than Roger Grimes had.