The Taser issue and other recent controversies may zap the career of Liberal MLA John Les (Chilliwack-Sumas) as solicitor general, according to Shane Simpson, NDP MLA for Vancouver-Hastings.

Echoing what he said was chat coming out of Victoria, Simpson told the Straight that Attorney General Wally Oppal wants the offices of the attorney general and solicitor general combined, "and he wants to be both".

"There's been some suggestions in Victoria that after the session is over and sometime around Christmas or shortly after, [Premier] Gordon Campbell will shuffle his cabinet," Simpson said. "That would give him the opportunity to move some of his weaker ministers out, like John Les”¦and maybe start to move out some of the people who aren't going to run again."

Campbell spokesperson Mike Morton didn't return a Straight call to clarify whether a cabinet shuffle is in the works. The attorney general's ministry didn't make Oppal available for an interview.

Simpson said he found it interesting that Campbell was silent during a recent debate in the legislature on whether he still has confidence in Les. "John Les has just failed so badly as solicitor general around the Taser issue, around taking care of children, around the lotteries issue, around dealing with gang-violence issues, and every one of those are his files and his responsibility," Simpson said.

Hansard records show that on November 20, NDP leader Carole James and four NDP members–Leonard Krog (Nanaimo), Mike Farnworth (Port Coquitlam–Burke Mountain), Jenny Kwan (Vancouver–Mount Pleasant), and Bruce Ralston (Surrey–Whalley)–rose to question Campbell about Les's fate in the cabinet. The premier failed to categorically state that the solicitor general has his unequivocal confidence.