When the government announces something on the Friday before the Canada Day long weekend, it’s usually a sign that they hope people won’t pay a lot of attention to it:

OTTAWA — The Harper government has given a longtime Ottawa Conservative a plum patronage spot at the Royal Canadian Mint — once at the centre of Tory wrath over a prominent Liberal who had a patronage job there.

Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon quietly announced on Friday that Claude Bennett, a former provincial Conservative cabinet minister who led the controversial municipal amalgamation of the Ottawa region, will be a director on the mint’s board.

Meet the new government…same as the old government…