Estimated reading time 2 minutes, 6 seconds.
The federal departments of the most relevance to aviation – civil as well as military – now have new ministers, thanks to the July 15 cabinet shuffle unveiled by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Nova Scotia MP Peter MacKay and Ontario MP Rob Nicholson, both lawyers, have swapped the National Defence and Justice portfolios. First elected in Nova Scotia in 1997 and in charge of the military since 2007, MacKay has been beset with a number of controversies – notably ongoing delays in several major procurements of new aircraft: fighters, maritime helicopters and fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft. All were programs he inherited at the onset of his time at Defence, and which were complicated by the involvement of Public Works & Government Services Canada (PWGSC), the government’s official purchasing agent, as well as Industry Canada, which has focused on domestic industrial spinoffs from major defence procurements. Nicholson, from Niagara Falls, Ont., was first elected in 1984. A review of his parliamentary career shows that he has had little, if any, involvement in defence issues.
Alberta MP Rona Ambrose, who has held several portfolios, has been at the helm of the PWGSC portfolio since early 2010, and seemed to have taken a strong personal interest in an often-muddled procurement machinery. However, she has been shuffled to the Health portfolio and replaced by Diane Finley, who has been running Human Resources & Skills Development since October 2008.
Quebec MP Denis Lebel has been shuffled to Infrastructure from the Transport portfolio he has held since May 2011, where he has maintained a low profile on aviation issues. He has been replaced by former Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, whose parliamentary record indicates that her only involvement in aviation has been intervention in Air Canada’s union issues.
