James Moore receives a major economic portfolio in Stephen Harper cabinet shuffle

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      Port Moody–Coquitlam–Port Coquitlam MP James Moore has received a promotion, becoming industry minister in the Conservative government.

      His move from Canadian Heritage, where he oversaw cuts to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, is one of many significant moves in today's cabinet shuffle. It's being billed as giving a younger look to the Conservative government.

      The former industry minister, Christian Paradis, has become international development minister.

      Abbotsford MP Ed Fast remains the minister of international trade, which leaves B.C. with two major economic portfolios. And Vancouver Island North MP John Duncan is back in cabinet as the government whip.

      The other new B.C. minister is Kerry-Lynne Findlay, who takes over responsibility for national revenue.

      In a surprise move, Peter MacKay and Rob Nicholson swapped portfolios, with MacKay taking over justice and attorney general and Nicholson moving to defence.

      Former ambassador to Afghanistan, Chris Alexander, is the new minister of citizenship and immigration. He's one of eight new faces in cabinet.

      His predecessor, Jason Kenney, has been moved to employment and social development after ramping up the temporary-foreign-worker program and increasing the list of countries that immigrants can be deported to.

      Another newcomer, Kellie Leitch, becomes labour minister. Lisa Raitt has moved to transport.

      Vic Toews, who sometimes got into trouble for his extreme right-wing views on granting police greater surveillance powers, has been replaced as public safety minister by another newcomer to cabinet, Steven Blaney.

      And filling Toews's spot as a key Manitoba minister is Shelly Glover, who is the new heritage minister.

      Former broadcaster Peter Kent was dropped as environment minister. He's been replaced by former health minister Leona Aglukkaq, who has led a federal charge against supervised-injection sites.

      Her position has been filled by Rona Ambrose, who used to be the minister of public works.

      Others who were dropped were Stephen Fletcher, former minister of state for transport, and Gordon O'Connor, who was replaced by Duncan.

      Comments

      14 Comments

      Susananne

      Jul 15, 2013 at 10:44am

      Can't stand him, don't know what he has ever done for BC , let alone his riding, ( of which we are constituents) .

      Joan

      Jul 15, 2013 at 12:34pm

      Don't think cabinet shuffle will help Mr. Harper and party. He must answer so many questions truthfully about the Duffy , Wallin senate mess etc. before Canadians will be happy with his government. He has done good things but just too many "iffy" things now to be comfortable with his governing.

      Rick in Richmond

      Jul 15, 2013 at 3:25pm

      It would be a mistake to cast Mr Moore in with every backward-looking conservative in Ottawa.

      He is thoroughly bilingual, and holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Poli Sci.

      In 2012 he voted against the Tory backbench bill that would have declared a fetus a person.

      In March of this year he voted in favour of an NDP bill protecting trans rights.

      And way back in 2004, he voted in favour of marriage equality, issued a thoughtful statement on the subject, and has defended it ever since.

      He is not a typical Harperite. In many (not all) ways he is a libertarian who seems unafraid of bucking his own party on issues (like gay marriage) that speak to human dignity and personal freedom.

      There is more to Moore than meets ordinary expectations.

      morgus

      Jul 15, 2013 at 5:06pm

      So he has pieces of paper from 3rd rate universities and he voted against a bill with no chance of passing and issues that of wildly exagerated importance

      Michael Puttonen

      Jul 15, 2013 at 6:08pm

      From the minutes of the Standing Committee on Heritage, June 5, 2013:

      "All of what's happening in regard to the transformation of the Museum of Civilization into a Canadian museum of history is in the context of the broader undercutting of the role of Canadian heritage institutions. Here I speak of Library and Archives Canada, which we've spoken about on many occasions, which has a national campaign called Canada's Past Matters; the cuts to archeology and heritage sites as a result of the cuts to Parks Canada; the closure of federal departmental libraries; the reduction of public access to libraries; the elimination of the inter-library loan system at our National Library; and the elimination of granting programs for local and regional archives. All of these are part of a context that gives us concern about what's happening." ---James L. Turk (Executive Director, Canadian Association of University Teachers):

      Edmund

      Jul 15, 2013 at 6:18pm

      Third rate universities? UNBC and USask are hardly third rate, unless you would like to suggest that Canada has no first or second rate universities. Morgus ought to refrain from a snotty attitude towards universities. As for Moore, he provided strong leadership to the Heritage Ministry, especially his push to coordinate Canadian museums. I think he deserves being bumped up the chain. He has also done well on many interviews, particularly regarding the CBC. BC should be pleased he is in cabinet.

      Martin Dunphy

      Jul 15, 2013 at 7:04pm

      Edmund:

      Re: Heritage Ministry. See Michael, above.

      Snicker

      Jul 15, 2013 at 7:41pm

      New actors take the stage. Will the show be better when the director, producer, writer, and dialogue coach remain the same?

      Will one of the players ad-lib their role in effort to revive a B grade reality show?

      New faces and voices will never change the play until somebody is willing to steal the show.

      Llechon

      Jul 15, 2013 at 8:00pm

      This is like putting lipstick on a pig...
      Harper is worried about Trudeau 's ability to attract a younger demographic.
      Harpoon has appointed Jason (napoleon) Kenny to take the axe to his new brief.
      Jason is Harpoon's little hitboy. Expect him to leave a wake.
      But Harpoon is not stupid. He is also putting Jason on notice , as Jason did not step up in the House during Mike Duffy's and Nigel Wright scandal.
      Harpoon is clearly worried> I guessing that he seen some polling stats. recently and it doesn't look good.
      The average age of that votes NeoCon must be pretty high and they are all going to the big country club in the sky.
      If they can do mobile banking in Kenya , why can't they allow people to vote electronically ?
      I guess it's in the NeoCon's interest not to have electronic voting in BC.
      CHARLIE: Why don't you write about what you think Harpoon's game plan is.

      Edmund

      Jul 15, 2013 at 8:18pm

      Martin, I see Michael, above, who's rather mindless contribution is to quote James Turk, always wielding an axe to grind against the government. I have met Turk, and have yet to agree with his interpretation of reality. Unless you suffer from the fallacy that any and every cur in public expenditure is evil, this quote offers very little.