(02-07-2021, 05:56 PM)Seraph Wrote: The presence of a Cabinet Minister with equal voting rights to the rest of the Cabinet tells me that we value that Minister's portfolio as much as those of the rest of the Cabinet. ...

While I understand and see where you're coming from, I think this is ultimately unhealthy for our government to view things this way. The reality of how the Cabinet functions is that there aren't many votes on things. When there are, it's almost always on things that aren't actually part of most ministers' portfolios. For instance, foreign affairs-- we're reaching the point where the ministers without foreign affairs as part of their portfolio (MoM, MoE, MoC) are literally outnumbering the ministers that do have it (MoFA, MoD). So it's entirely possible today, and even more so if we add a new ministry, that FA decisions are ultimately made by ministers other than the one we actually elect to do the job, if they end up disagreeing with the MoFA. That's something I think we need to have a bigger discussion on, but I digress...

(02-07-2021, 05:56 PM)Seraph Wrote: Is there a way to achieve a balance between a sense of equal importance without giving the Office Cabinet level privileges? Would this just be something we have to work on culturally, or can we legislate any degree of compromise?

To me, I think this is a valid compromise. We do have a cultural conception of the executive branch as limited to "the Cabinet." But it doesn't have to be. OWL as its own executive-level office does make it of great importance. The Director would be running things at the same executive level as a minister. But ultimately, when you look at what the Cabinet is really for (policy-making), there are important functions of our government that don't really fit in with the Cabinet's purpose. Does that make sense?