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NDP shadow cabinet

flight from kamakura
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Joined: Nov 24 2006

House officers

    Tom Mulcair, leader of the Official Opposition, intergovernmental affairs.
    Libby Davies, deputy leader, health.
    David Christopherson, deputy leader.
    Megan Leslie, deputy leader, environment.
    Nathan Cullen, house leader.
    Sadia Groguhé, deputy House leader, deputy immigration, citizenship and multiculturalism.
    Nycole Turmel, whip.
    Phil Toone, deputy whip, deputy fisheries (East Coast).

Shadow cabinet

    Malcolm Allen, agriculture.
    Charlie Angus, ethics, ATI and privacy.
    Niki Ashton, women.
    Dennis Bevington, Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.
    Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, seniors.
    Françoise Boivin, justice.
    Charmaine Borg, digital Issues.
    Alexandre Boulerice, labour, deputy ethics, ATI and privacy.
    Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, housing, deputy human resources and skills development.
    Chris Charlton, human resources and skills development.
    Robert Chisholm, fisheries, Atlantic Gateway, deputy intergovernmental affairs.
    Olivia Chow, transport, infrastructure and communities;
    Ryan Cleary, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, post-secondary education.
    Joe Comartin, democratic reform.
    Jean Crowder, aboriginal affairs.
    Don Davies, international trade.
    Anne-Marie Day, employment insurance.
    Paul Dewar, foreign affairs.
    Pierre Dionne Labelle, Francophonie.
    Fin Donnelly, Western Economic Diversification Canada, deputy fisheries (West Coast).
    Linda Duncan, public works and government services.
    Matthew Dubé, sport.
    Peter Julian, energy and natural resources.
    Randall Garrison, public safety, LGBTT.
    Yvon Godin, official languages.
    Jack Harris, defence.
    Matthew Kellway, military procurement.
    François Lapointe, small business and tourism.
    Hélène Laverdière, americas and consular affairs.
    Hélène LeBlanc, industry.
    Hoang Mai, national revenue.
    Irene Mathyssen, pensions.
    Wayne Marston, human rights, Federal Economic Development Agency for southern Ontario.
    Pat Martin, Canadian Wheat Board.
    Brian Masse, Canada-U.S. Border, Ontario-Quebec Continental Gateway.
    Peggy Nash, finance.
    Pierre Nantel, heritage.
    Manon Perreault, disability issues.
    John Rafferty, Federal Economic Development Initiative for northern Ontario.
    Mathieu Ravignat, treasury board.
    Jean Rousseau, Economic Development Agency for the Regions of Quebec.
    Romeo Saganash, international development, deputy international trade.
    Jasbir Sandhu, Asia-Pacific Gateway.
    Jinny Sims, immigration, citizenship and multiculturalism.
    Kennedy Stewart, science and technology.
    Peter Stoffer, veterans.
    Glenn Thibeault, consumer protection.

Deputy critics

    Robert Aubin, deputy transport, infrastructure and communities.
    Paulina Ayala, deputy Americas and consular affairs.
    Tyrone Benskin, deputy official languages.
    Denis Blanchette, deputy public works and government services.
    Ruth Ellen Brosseau, deputy agriculture.
    Guy Caron, deputy finance.
    Andrew Cash, deputy heritage
    Sylvain Chicoine, deputy veterans.
    Rosane Doré Lefebvre, deputy public safety.
    Jonathan Genest-Jourdain, deputy aboriginal affairs.
    Dan Harris, deputy industry.
    Carole Hughes, deputy aboriginal health.
    Anne Minh-Thu Quach, deputy environment.
    Alexandrine Latendresse, deputy democratic reform.
    Laurin Liu, deputy science and technology.
    Christine Moore, deputy defence.
    Dany Morin, deputy LGBTT.
    Jamie Nicholls, deputy natural resources.
    Annick Papillon, deputy consumer protection.
    Ève Péclet, deputy foreign affairs.
    Craig Scott, deputy justice.
    Djaouida Sellah, deputy health.
    Mike Sullivan, deputy housing, deputy disability issues.


Comments

flight from kamakura
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Joined: Nov 24 2006

huge promotion for cullen, well deserved demotions for some (laverdière, benskin), a bit of a mystery why dewar is still in foreign affairs but i guess foreign ministers are always sort of inept and easily controlled, and if he flails about, he can be dumped.  nash in finance is dicey to me, but she's a hard-worker, so she'll do a good job.  craig scott's position is more important than it looks, i'd bet that he gets the nod for the ministry over boivin when mulcair becomes pm.  pat martin didn't come out so well on paper, nor did jamie nicholls, but i think those two have more on their plate - teevee for the former and organizing/phd defense for the latter, so they may well have asked for lighter house work.  kellway has been masterful on the jets scandal, but harris is fantastic pick for defense, very interesting considering that chisholm is basically the shadow minister of the maritimes.  davies will make and excellent health minister one day. 

all in all, nice work.


Bärlüer
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Joined: Aug 20 2007

Comartin losing the justice portfolio was to be expected. His mishandling of the issue of the appointment of unilingual Moldaver to the Supreme Court made the party look ridiculous.


Howard
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Joined: Aug 31 2011

Bärlüer wrote:

Comartin losing the justice portfolio was to be expected. His mishandling of the issue of the appointment of unilingual Moldaver to the Supreme Court made the party look ridiculous.

A rare, but grave, miscue.


flight from kamakura
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Joined: Nov 24 2006

yeah, totally.  that was as bad as it gets.  though there are a couple head-scratchers, like how benskin ended up anywhere near bilingualism, why boulerice didn't get a better portfolio - considering he's probably top 5 most effective quebec mps, even ahead of saganash - and how christopherson ended up in the leader's circle.  he's a great mp, but elite?  i don't know.  also nice to see some of the genuinely incompetent mps denied spots altogether - morin from ndg, sana, etc.  mulcair is a stern taskmaster, it has to be said.


quizzical
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Joined: Dec 8 2011

how do we find out if they are incompentant MP's? did they do something wrong? and what is ndg?

 


Unionist
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Joined: Dec 11 2005

flight from kamakura wrote:
nash in finance is dicey to me, but she's a hard-worker, so she'll do a good job.

Did you have a problem with her in finance before?

 


mtm
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Joined: Oct 16 2008

On the contrary, I think Boulerice having Labour will be a very very important and visible portfolio as the Harper war on unions continues unabated.

 

FYI NDG= Notre-Dame-de-Grace, a riding (and region) in Montreal.


Sean in Ottawa
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Joined: Jun 3 2003

flight from kamakura wrote:

yeah, totally.  that was as bad as it gets.  though there are a couple head-scratchers, like how benskin ended up anywhere near bilingualism, why boulerice didn't get a better portfolio - considering he's probably top 5 most effective quebec mps, even ahead of saganash - and how christopherson ended up in the leader's circle.  he's a great mp, but elite?  i don't know.  also nice to see some of the genuinely incompetent mps denied spots altogether - morin from ndg, sana, etc.  mulcair is a stern taskmaster, it has to be said.

Christopherson was widely regarded and praised as a very effective cabinet minister in the Rae government.


Brachina
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Joined: Feb 15 2012
Arrg, I thought that Mulcair's whole shadow Cabinate was displayed in the Maclean's article was complete, but it appears they left out the purely dupty critics, of which there is plenty. I based my last post in the Mulcair thread on that info. I'm happy that Lauren and Anne didn't get demoted as deputy critics both have done well and Christine Moore's demotion is less then I,originally thought which is also good. I also notice REB got promoted to Deputy agri which shows how far she's grown into her role as an MP, also good for her riding which I think,depends on Agriculture. I really hope Rathika gets a committee chair, she made some PR blunders, but very minor, and unlike many in the Shadow Cabinate Rathika won her riding on her own merits and she I believe is very popular in Scarbough and important to winning in the 905. I also like Chirstopherson as DL, picking one with experience was a good reminder that the NDP is not completely without governmental experience, he has connections with labour, and best of all he worked closely with Bob Rae so I'm betting it'll be his job to be a pain in Bob's ass. That could get interesting.

Catchfire
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Joined: Apr 16 2003

I was hoping Mulcair was going to pick Topp for leader. *ducks*


Hoodeet
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Joined: Dec 8 2008

So:  for foreign affairs --Dewar, whose stance on issues from militarization and Afghanistan to Palestine and Latin America has been highly questionable, either because it is weak or non-existent or because it is contrary to what the NDP stands for, or should stand for.

IMOLaverdière for consular affairs -- what is her knowledge of international issues and her position on them?

 


Howard
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Joined: Aug 31 2011

Catchfire wrote:

I was hoping Mulcair was going to pick Topp for leader. *ducks*

It was a secret ballot afterall, so who knows Wink


Hoodeet
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Joined: Dec 8 2008

Following up:  Julian would have been more knowledgeable and reliable on foreign affairs, but energy and natural resources is one area that requires  the kind of political skill and knowledge that Julian can bring, and it can dovetail very nicely with foreign affairs, since Canada's foreign policy is now virtually all linked to the promotion and defence of energy corporations out to pillage foreign natural resources...  Smart move, then.  I'm still unhappy about Dewar, though.

Over all, I'm very impressed with the list.  Can't wait to see them all in action --and to hear what other rabblers have to say about them.

 

 

 


Stockholm
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Joined: Sep 29 2002

Hoodeet wrote:

IMOLaverdière for consular affairs -- what is her knowledge of international issues and her position on them?

ummm...she has been a career diplomat most of her life and was second in command at the Canadian embassy in Santiago, Chile before she decided to run for the NDP. Her portfolio is Consular Affairs and The Americas...meaning that she will have special responsibility with foreign affairs in the western hemisphere


flight from kamakura
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Joined: Nov 24 2006

laverdière is a lightweight and mulcair knows it.  i was a pa to an ambassador and i can say, from experience, that she's the sort of candidate that we were happy to get when we were irrelevant.  she'll be replaced come the nomination meeting, and mulcair is sensible to have demoted her back to her skill level.  we need a killer opposition and, very basically and assuredly, mulcair is an excellent judge of competence.

on the point of julian - he'll be a minister in tmpm, there's no question.  probably top 5 of all mps, leagues ahead of any of the leadership candidates except for mulcair and nash.


Wilf Day
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Joined: Oct 31 2002

Very good choices, with some interesting twists. 

Promoted to one of the seven House Officers, as Deputy House Leader, is Sadia Groguhé. Who? Is this a token ethnic appointment, for one of our four Maghrebian deputies?

Far from it; this is one ambitious, talented and impatient woman, from what she told her home town paper in France last July:

http://www.laprovence.com/article/istres/sadia-groguhe-listreenne-devenue-deputee-au-canada

Quote:
. . . her voice is clear, energetic, determined.

Born into a family of 12 children, she receives a Master of Psychology at Aix. Then the specialist in social inclusion runs as an independent candidate in the 1994 cantonal election (when she was 31): "I could not imagine citizenship without engaging in politics . " The young woman is then noticed and Jacques Siffre, Socialist Mayor of Istres, takes her on his list. From 1995 to 2000, she will be a municipal councilor at the side of, notably, François Bernardini. The current Chief Magistrate remembers "a very young woman very present while being unobtrusive. She worked without exuberance ". Particularly in the southern districts " where she was appreciated ".

A first experiment that whetted the appetite of Sadia Groguhé, to some extent. "But with the birth of my children, I then put politics aside. " A hiatus of ten years during which she will change her country.

Six years ago she, her husband and their four children have made ​​the big leap to America. "Given the difficulties facing our beautiful country of France, we did not want our children to be victims of discrimination," says Sadia Groguhé, herself born of French parents, Algerian, and whose husband is from Ivory Coast. "So we made ​​a formal application for emigration to Canada in 2003. Two years later, we got our visa and we chose Quebec."

In the federal election of May 2 "an orange wave" the color of Jack Layton's New Democratic Party (NDP), swept Canada. With 30.6% of the vote, the party, anchored on the left, went from 37 to 103 deputies in the House of Commons. Among them, Sadia Groguhé, elected in the riding of Saint-Lambert. "Because I had been naturalized only in October 2010, some newspapers headlined 'A new Canadian running for office," jokes the forty-something woman. "But when I campaigned door-to-door I've always had a very, very warm welcome. People asked me where I came from, but it is not at all the same mentality as in France. They do not look at skin color, but the candidate, her party, her proposals." For François Bernardini, who Sadia Groguhé called shortly after her election, "it shows that Canadians are much more open than we are to differences, to integrate the diversity and the minority."

This success does not surprise Messaouda Saker, her older sister, who lives in the center of Istres. "It's a very big pride for our whole family, she deserves it, although I would have liked her to succeed here. It's still weird that in France we can not break in even when we have the ability. I think Sadia wants to go further still" she jokes. "She wants to become a minister!" She's on her way: the Canadian MP was appointed June 11 deputy spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration in the shadow cabinet of the "Official Opposition" as they say in Canada. She does not hide her ambition and is aware of her abilities: "If I had not quit for my children, I know I would have quickly become an MP in France."

But before taking up the political struggle again, Sadia Groguhé would like to spend a few days holiday in Istres, at the end of July. "This is my city, I still love it," she says.


clambake
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Joined: Apr 21 2011

This government is infuriating to no end:

 


Hoodeet
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Joined: Dec 8 2008

Stockholm wrote:

Hoodeet wrote:

IMOLaverdière for consular affairs -- what is her knowledge of international issues and her position on them?

ummm...she has been a career diplomat most of her life and was second in command at the Canadian embassy in Santiago, Chile before she decided to run for the NDP. Her portfolio is Consular Affairs and The Americas...meaning that she will have special responsibility with foreign affairs in the western hemisphere

Hoodeet (JW)

Thank you, Stockholm, and forgive my ignorance. 

 


TheArchitect
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Joined: Sep 15 2011

Hélène Leblanc as Industry critic is a big surprise.  Everything I've heard about her is positive, but I would have expected such an important role to be given to a more prominent MP.


JeffWells
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Joined: Dec 15 2003

clambake wrote:

This government is infuriating to no end:

Even absolute power doesn't assuage the hate of these people.

 


Brachina
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Joined: Feb 15 2012
Harper isn't including his parliamentary secraitaries, which are kind of like deputy critics. The whole smaller cabinates are better fallacy is bullshit. First off more means less pressure and stress for major ministers, because the burden is spread around. 2 when you have a party that is just bursting with talent like the NDP, why wouldn't you want to milk it for all you can. If fact I hate the very idea of backbenchers, I'd assign everyone a role.

Brachina
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Joined: Feb 15 2012
http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/04/20/a-scouting-report-on-team-mulcair/ Macleans has some good anaylasis on the shadow cabinate.

Stockholm
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Joined: Sep 29 2002

I couple of other appointments to mention:

1. i had wondered if Christopherson would have any formal duties beyond the title of Deputy Leader. It seems he also chair of the Public Accounts Committe

2. 20 year old Pierre-Luc Dussault who seems very impressive and mature beyond his years will apparently be chair of House Ethics Committee!


Haddy
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Joined: Apr 19 2012

It is being reported/rumoured that  Comartin and Mulcair met on Friday and Mulcair talked Comartin out of resigning until at least the summer.  Word is that Comartin is leaving then.  As well Libby is leaving, Ann McGrath is out in June and the rest of Jack/Brian Topp's leadership teams are being "reorganized" this week.

There is real conflict in caucus right now and main concern today is on Mulcair's misunderstanding between decriminalization versus legalization with numerous NDP MP's in Quebec calling connerie/bull"@#$%.

 

 


mtm
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Joined: Oct 16 2008

Haddy, joined Apr 19, 2012.


Sowing seeds of discontent and rumours/"reports" nobody else seems to know anything about. Sigh.


Charles
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Joined: Apr 21 2001

Where exactly is this being "reported"? Odd that noone else seems to have heard anything at all about any of these claims...


Stockholm
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Joined: Sep 29 2002

I suspect that this brand new poster is probably on the Tory payroll to try to spread false rumours of dissent in the NDP. Caveat emptor.


KenS
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Joined: Aug 6 2001

Brian Topp wrote:

For example, much media coverage has focused on Hollande's proposal to restore fair taxes on high incomes. The details are less important than the victory Hollande scored in how this proposal was debated. It was widely discussed in terms of whether or not to dispense with cadeaux fiscales - fiscal gifts, to the wealthiest of the French - rather than the populist right-wing "smaller government, lower taxes, more freedom" slogans that have delivered none of these things, while building grotesque income inequality here in North America. In short, Hollande found a way to win both the frame and the debate over economic equality.


quizzical
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Joined: Dec 8 2011

where does that come from kens?


RevolutionPlease
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Joined: Oct 15 2007
quizzical wrote:

where does that come from kens?

It's from here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/brian-topp/w...

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