Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 16, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A4 A 4 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013 CANADA winnipegfreepress. com F OR the first time in the province's history, women MPs will be calling the shots for Manitoba around the federal cabinet table. Former Winnipeg Police Service media spokeswoman Shelly Glover becomes Manitoba's new senior MP and regional minister and will be dealing with big- ticket items like the extension of rapid transit and new flood protection. The 46- year- old Glover was promoted to minister of heritage and official languages in a cabinet shuffle Prime Minister Harper announced on his Twitter profile Monday morning. The Saint Boniface MP, first elected in 2008, was also named to Harper's powerful priorities and planning cabinet committee where all key decisions are discussed and made. The first big item on her plate is negotiating the new Building Canada Fund split with the Selinger government and Mayor Sam Katz. Harper also bumped up Portage- MP Candice Bergen to cabinet, giving her the junior portfolio of minister of state for social development. Bergen will not be in charge of a government department per se, but be responsible for filling in for other government ministers when needed. Bergen will be working with Jason Kenney, who moves from his immigration portfolio to become the minister of employment and social development, the new name for what was the human resources ministry. The promotion of Glover and Bergen also increases the number of women in Harper's cabinet by two to 12 and, according to some observers, brings a fresher, younger look to the Conservative government at a time when they are down in popular support against Justin Trudeau's Liberals and hounded by the Senate spending scandal. " What an amazing opportunity," Glover said in a short address posted on Harper's YouTube channel. " I want to thank the prime minister for believing in me and giving me this chance to help my community and my country." Glover has big shoes to fill. She replaces former Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, who retired from political life a week ago. Past Manitoba regional ministers include for Tory MP Jake Epp and Liberal MPs Reg Alcock and Lloyd Axworthy. " I will do my very best, as I have always tried to do," Glover added in the YouTube clip. University of Manitoba political scientist Paul Thomas said the addition of Glover and Bergen to cabinet can also be seen as an attempt by Harper to make his government more softer around the edges. Glover and Bergen were unavailable Monday. Glover was promoted just weeks after she became locked in a dispute with Elections Canada over her 2011 election expenses. Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand went so far as to write to the Speaker of the House of Commons, saying Glover and another Manitoba Conservative MP, James Bezan, could no longer sit as MPs until their returns were adjusted. Last month Glover backed down and filed a new expense claim with Elections Canada. Thomas said while both Glover and Bergen are tireless Harper supporters, their presence in cabinet is intended to make the Conservatives more appealing to women voters, traditionally the territory of the NDP and Liberals. Thomas also said with more women sitting around the cabinet table, it might impact the type of issues brought forward, such as child care. " The Conservatives under Stephen Harper have had a tough time getting women's values reflected," he said. " This could bring more attention. Women bring a different sensibility to these jobs." What it also shows is a vote of confidence by Harper for Glover and Bergen, he said, adding both are strong defenders of the government and do not wilt under criticism either in Question Period or in television interviews. " They are effective communicators," he said. " They come across as credible." Glover rises to cabinet having served as parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance, and Bergen was the national face of the government in the dismantling of the long- gun registry. She was also parliamentary secretary to the minister of public safety. " This is an important step in their careers," Thomas added. But it's a step that left one MP out. Charleswood- St. James- Assiniboia MP Steven Fletcher was dropped from cabinet, something he blamed Monday on gender and geography. Because of its population, the province only has two cabinet positions, and as Harper had said he wanted to promote more women, that left him out. " I would have preferred to have left cabinet the traditional way - with a sex scandal," he joked Monday. " There's been a lot worse things that have happened to me. Today is just a bump in the road." Fletcher, the first quadriplegic to serve in the House of Commons and in cabinet, was minister of state for transport. He was first appointed to cabinet as minister of state for democratic reform in 2008. He said his demotion will give him more time to be an advocate for Manitoba. " I am quite happy to have served and, you know, the fact is it was the prime minister who said he wanted more female representation in cabinet. I did an excellent job in what I was asked to do. Candice and Shelly are very capable people." Thomas said as long as the Conservatives stay in government, there's always a chance Fletcher could be brought back into cabinet. bruce. owen@ freepress. mb. ca OTTAWA - To get a feeling for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet shuffle, a glance at the seating arrangement inside Rideau Hall's august ballroom spoke volumes. In the front rows, veteran cabinet ministers held on to the top economic and international files the Conservative government has long declared its top priority. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Treasury Board President Tony Clement, Trade Minister Ed Fast, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver comprise the team handling key issues like job creation, oil pipelines and a Canada- Europe free trade deal. Directly behind them was a group of long- time politicians in new portfolios charged with backing them up on the economic front - Industry Minister James Moore, Employment and Social Development Minister Jason Kenney and Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel. Harper banked on the economy as a winning issue for the Conservatives in the 2011 election, and appears to be adopting the same strategy for 2015. " The team Canadians elected in 2011 is deep and it is talented. Many younger members of Parliament have earned more responsibility and are ready for more responsibility," Harper said outside Rideau Hall on a sweltering July day. " Today they step forward and join experienced hands who remain in key portfolios." In the posterior rows, an entirely different demographic - new, younger MPs and women, taking up some of the social portfolios and junior minister posts. Bilingual, Metis Manitoba MP Shelly Glover nabbed Canadian Heritage; pediatric surgeon Kellie Leitch was named labour minister; and former Canadian diplomat Chris Alexander took over from Jason Kenney at Citizenship and Immigration. Pierre Poilievre, one of Harper's go- to, hyper- partisan MPs for taking on the opposition, fills the democratic reform portfolio and thus the daunting task of Senate reform. The new ministers have all served as parliamentary secretaries, carrying the government's message regularly on television panels and during question period. The new faces were the ones emphasized most by the Prime Minister's Office - Alexander and Michelle Rempel, minister of state for western economic development, were the pair selected to speak to the media following the official ceremony. " As someone who has been in public service for Canada since 1991, to be a minister, to be in this place, with eight colleagues who are joining the Privy Council for the first time, it's an emotional moment for us," Alexander said. " But we have no illusions about the job we have to do, about how hard the work will be." Putting an even finer point on its goal of achieving a younger, more contemporary feel, the PMO released the names of each appointment via Twitter instead of by email, fax or handout. Harper also confirmed Monday the government would deliver a throne speech, complete with a " renewed policy agenda," when the House of Commons resumes in the fall. Harper's government has appeared sensitive to the optics of a front bench that will eventually take on the NDP with its young, diverse caucus and the Liberals with their popular new leader, 41- year- old Justin Trudeau. The number of women in cabinet grew by two to 12 - 31 per cent of the ministry, compared with 27 per cent before the shuffle. The powerful Planning and Priorities committee of cabinet goes from two women to three, although a woman is no longer vice- chair. The NDP responded soon after the swearing- in ceremony with a news conference held by two female MPs - deputy leader Megan Leslie and Quebec MP Rosane Dore Lefebvre. " If we look at the economic portfolios, it's the same people. ( Harper) talked about fresh faces, there was all this hype about more women in different portfolios, and those portfolios are exactly the same," said Leslie. " If the prime minister... actually thought it was time for a new direction, those key portfolios would be moved around." - The Canadian Press Shelly Glover Named minister of heritage and official languages 46: Age 5: Number of children she and husband Bruce have 19: Numbers of years served with the Winnipeg Police Service 2008: Year she was elected as the Conservative MP for Saint Boniface Women make historic gains in cabinet shuffle Manitobans Glover, Bergen promoted to front bench Candice Bergen Named minister of state for social development 48: Age 3: Number of children. She is divorced. 2004: Year she was the Manitoba campaign manager for Stephen Harper's leadership bid for the Conservative Party of Canada 2008: Year she was elected as Conservative MP for Portage- Lisgar By Bruce Owen Veteran MPs hold reins of power Junior pols get lesser portfolios By Jennifer Ditchburn OTTAWA - What began as a Twitter tease turned into a torrent of tweets. The use of social media figured prominently in Monday's federal cabinet shuffle, with the prime minister's Twitter account dropping strategically timed hints about what would unfold at Rideau Hall. Stephen Harper even made a cameo video appearance in a six- second clip telling the 354,000 or so followers of his ( at) pmharper account to stay tuned for " exclusive details" of how ministers and their portfolios would be realigned. He was true to his word: before the ceremony even began, every single one of his 38 cabinet appointments had been disclosed in individual news blasts of fewer than 140 characters each. Major announcements like cabinet shuffles are traditionally shrouded in a tight blanket of secrecy. Not so this time. Long before the Rideau Hall swearing- in was scheduled to take place, Harper's account tweeted he was appointing eight new faces to cabinet, including " four strong women." The prime minister's account also posted videos of ministers talking about their new responsibilities. Unlike previous shuffles, the media was not provided a list of changes in advance in exchange for a commitment to keep it secret until the appointed time. As a result, reporters were furiously re- tweeting each cabinet post as they scrambled to keep up with the steady stream of announcements flowing from Harper's account. Mark Blevis, a digital public affairs analyst, said the strategy suggests the Prime Minister's Office wanted to attract more eyeballs to Harper's Twitter account. " It was more of a recognition that they want to draw more attention to social- media properties ( of Harper) for communications," Blevis said. " What better way to do it than on a major announcement, like a cabinet shuffle?" That likely means more of the same in future, he added. " Now that it's been done on Twitter, it's going to be controversial probably today and tomorrow, and then it'll be acceptable to make government policy announcements and cabinet position announcements over Twitter." The Prime Minister's Office has given the ( at) pmharper account a softer touch in the last year. In January, the account generated buzz when it was used to chronicle a day in Harper's life as prime minister. - The Canadian Press Twitter gets jump on official announcement By Steve Rennie JOIN THE CONVERSATION How would you describe the new federal cabinet? Go to winnipegfreepress. com and add your comments to the conversation ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS Shelley Glover, centre, arrives with family members on Parliament Hill on Monday, where the Saint Boniface MP was named the minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS Portage MP Candice Bergen is sworn in as minister of state for social development on Monday. A_ 04_ Jul- 16- 13_ FP_ 01. indd A4 7/ 15/ 13 10: 48: 15 PM ;