"We know that governing in a minority is not going to be easy," Harper said
- From: "PEN Nearovi" <nearovi@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 7 Feb 2006 09:42:52 -0800
Harper sworn in as Canada's 22nd prime minister (2006-Feb-07)
CTV.ca News Staff : Stephen Harper promised to make government
"more
accountable and effective" after he was officially sworn in as
Canada's 22nd prime
minister on Monday. Clutching his personal Bible, Harper was sworn in
by Alex Himelfarb,
clerk of the Privy Council, and was presided over by Gov. Gen.
Michaelle Jean as he
took the oath of office -- two weeks after he led his Conservative
Party to a minority
victory over Paul Martin's Liberals.
"We know that governing in a minority is not going to be easy,"
Harper said in a news conference following
the ceremony at Rideau Hall. "But we have our legislative and
governmental priorities and we will work with
others to find shared goals and common ideas." After his first cabinet
meeting, Harper announced that Parliament
would return on Monday, April 3, and that his government would be
tabling a budget. After keeping news of his
cabinet a closely guarded secret, Harper named a 26-member cabinet
(which includes six women) -- streamlined
from Martin's 37. The most surprising news was the appointment of David
Emerson as minister of international
trade. Emerson, former industry minister under Paul Martin's Liberal
government, crossed the floor to join the Tory
cabinet. Emerson, an MP for the B.C. riding of Vancouver Kingsway, was
considered a leadership candidate for the
Liberals. He took a prominent role on the issue of softwood lumber in
the last government. His acquisition gives
the Tory party its only MP in one of the country's major cities.
Emerson received a loud ovation after he swore his
oath on Monday morning.
As expected, Harper has dropped the post of deputy prime
minister. His cabinet includes 10 members from
Western Canada, nine from Ontario, one from Manitoba and three from the
Maritimes. There is no cabinet member
from P.E.I. since no Conservative MPs were elected in that province. A
partial list of key portfolios :
Peter MacKay - Foreign affairs
Jim Flaherty - Finance
Lawrence Cannon - Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
Vic Toews - Justice
Gordon O'Connor - Defence
Tony Clement - Health
Maxime Bernier - Industry
Stockwell Day -- Public Safety
Michael Fortier - Public Works
Rona Ambrose - Environment
Jim Prentice - Indian Affairs
John Baird - Treasury Board
Chuck Strahl - Agriculture
Gary Lunn - Natural Resources
Monte Solberg - Citizenship and Immigration
Rob Nicholson - Democratic reform (a new post) and Speaker of the
House.
Fortier's appointment
The appointment of Fortier as public works minister came as
another big surprise. Harper has no MPs in any
of the Canada's three biggest cities, and he told reporters he
appointed Fortier -- a key business figure, party
organizer in Quebec and a former president of the Progressive
Conservative party -- because he needs a minister
from Montreal in his cabinet. Fortier is not a Member of Parliament,
and is being temporarily appointed to the
Senate until a seat opens up in the Commons -- a move which seems to
contradict Harper's pledge to reform the
Senate by appointing only elected Senators as one of his first steps in
the new Parliament. But Harper said Fortier
will run in the next federal election, and that he will step down from
his Senate seat once he is elected to
Parliament. "Michael Fortier is leaving a lucrative, private sector job
to take this (position) ... but it is only a
temporary appointment. He has agreed that he will step down at the next
federal election . . . and so this
Senate seat will be available for elections, and we'll be proceeding
with Senate elections in the not-too-distant
future."
Bill Graham reacts
The Liberals wasted no time launching an offensive on Harper's
cabinet picks. Opposition Leader Bill
Graham expressed his concern that an unelected cabinet minister will be
responsible for billions of dollars in public
spending. "Mr. Harper ran a campaign which emphasized accountability
and ethical behaviour by Canadians and
by parliamentarians," said Liberal Opposition Leader Bill Graham. "I
have to say, therefore, that I am concerned,
given Mr. Harper's past statements, that he's decided to put into his
cabinet a non-elected minister of public
works," Graham said of Fortier. Graham also blasted Harper's decision
to appoint Emerson, particularly because of
the criticism Martin faced. "I was in the House of Commons when Mr.
Harper vigorously criticized Mr. Martin for
including Ms. Stronach in the cabinet, and now, before he has even been
appointed prime minister of Canada, he
has already negotiated to have someone come over to his cabinet from
the other side," Graham said in French.
Graham said Stronach left the Tories over matters of policy, and that
Emerson's defection is not comparable.
Quebec representation
Harper has named four out the 10 new Tory MPs from Quebec to
cabinet posts in the hopes of gaining more
seats in the province. In addition to Cannon at transport and Bernier
at industry, Jean-Pierre Blackburn has been
appointed as labour minister, and Josee Verner as the minister of
international co-operation. CTV's Ottawa bureau
chief Robert Fife pointed out that each of these Quebec cabinet
ministers were handed economic assignments for
a reason. "The Conservative Party has to be able to reach out to
Quebecers and show the people in the ridings
where they came second (40 ridings in Quebec) that they have clout, and
that is why we're seeing Quebec
ministers with economic portfolios and spending authority."
Elsewhere, Nicholson, an MP from Niagara Falls, Ont., is the
only minister with previous federal cabinet
experience, having served under the short tenure of prime minister Kim
Campbell. MacKay's assignment as foreign
affairs minister, meanwhile, follows an unwritten tradition in Canadian
politics, where party leaders give the post
to formal rivals for the leadership. In 1984, prime minister John
Turner handed the assignment to Jean Chretien.
Joe Clark was made foreign affairs minister by prime minister Brian
Mulroney. The appointment of Marjory LeBreton
-- who has served every Conservative leader since John Diefenbaker --
as leader of the government in the Senate
is sure to be a popular move among Tories. LeBreton served as an
important adviser to Harper during the election
campaign. Three high-profile MPs who were touted for cabinet spots were
notably absent: Diane Ablonczy, Jason
Kenney and James Moore.
Streamlined cabinet
The 26-member cabinet (27 including Harper) is one of the
smallest in years, which Conservatives say
should allow for more efficiency in Parliament. "My smaller Cabinet and
more streamlined Cabinet structure are
designed for work-not for show," said Harper in a statement released
Monday. "The team is talented and
balanced, reflecting our national diversity. The 26 Ministers are equal
members of the team, ensuring equal
voices from all regions of Canada. The structure is designed to promote
accountable, efficient and effective
government-more focus and purpose; less process and cost." In choosing
his cabinet, Harper seemed to have
gone for experience, selecting those members who have senior government
or industry experience under their
belts. Harper said his cabinet reflects his intention to focus on five
key Tory priorities:
Cleaning up government by enacting and enforcing the Federal
Accountability Act;
Lowering taxes, starting with a reduction to the GST;
Strengthening the justice system;
Supporting child care choices of parents; and
Delivering wait time guarantees for health care.
Harper called it a "great honour and an enormous responsibility" to be
prime minister and vowed to move swiftly on
his campaign pledges. "We will improve Canadians' faith in public
institutions by making government more
accountable and effective," he said.
Changing of the guard
Harper and his family arrived at Rideau Hall just before 10:45
a.m. ET. Climbing out of a minivan, Harper held
the hand of his seven-year-old daughter Rachel, with his wife Laureen
and son Ben close behind, as they walked
into the Governor General's official residence. An hour earlier, Martin
officially handed in his resignation to the
Governor General, marking an end to his troubled two-year term as prime
minister that saw his scandal-plagued
Liberals humbled by a resurgent Conservative party. Martin arrived
earlier than expected, avoiding journalists and
slipping into a side door to Rideau Hall. After a brief meeting with
Jean, Martin came out the front entrance,
waved to reporters and climbed into his limousine.
Harper's new cabinet ministers began showing up shortly after,
arriving in cars and taxis instead of
limousines -- a move that's being interpreted as an effort to show that
they're closer to the people. The new
prime minister told reporters he doesn't have a precise date for the
beginning of the new Parliament, but expects
to announce one later in the day.
.
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