Stephen Harper's new cabinet includes Metro Vancouver's Alice Wong, James Moore

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      Prime Minister Stephen Harper has named his first cabinet since his Conservative party won a majority government, and it includes two members from Metro Vancouver.

      Richmond MP Alice Wong is joining the federal cabinet for the first time as minister of state for seniors.

      Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam MP James Moore remains the minister of Canadian heritage and official languages.

      Edward Fast, the MP for Abbotsford—which lies just outside Metro Vancouver—has also received his first cabinet posting. Fast has been named minister of international trade and minister for the Asia-Pacific gateway.

      The fourth B.C. member of cabinet is Vancouver Island North MP John Duncan, who retains his portfolio as minister of aboriginal affairs and northern development.

      Here's the full list of cabinet ministers:

      The Honourable Robert Douglas Nicholson
      Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

      The Honourable Marjory LeBreton
      Leader of the Government in the Senate

      The Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay
      Minister of National Defence

      The Honourable Vic Toews
      Minister of Public Safety

      The Honourable Rona Ambrose
      Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women

      The Honourable Diane Finley
      Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development

      The Honourable Beverley J. Oda
      Minister of International Cooperation

      The Honourable John Baird
      Minister of Foreign Affairs

      The Honourable Tony Clement
      President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario

      The Honourable James Michael Flaherty
      Minister of Finance

      The Honourable Peter Van Loan
      Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

      The Honourable Jason Kenney
      Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism

      The Honourable Gerry Ritz
      Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board

      The Honourable Christian Paradis
      Minister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture)

      The Honourable James Moore
      Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages

      The Honourable Denis Lebel
      Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec

      The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq
      Minister of Health and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency

      The Honourable Keith Ashfield
      Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway

      The Honourable Peter Kent
      Minister of the Environment

      The Honourable Lisa Raitt
      Minister of Labour

      The Honourable Gail Shea
      Minister of National Revenue

      The Honourable John Duncan
      Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development

      The Honourable Steven Blaney
      Minister of Veterans Affairs

      The Honourable Edward Fast
      Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway

      The Honourable Joe Oliver
      Minister of Natural Resources

      The Honourable Peter Penashue
      Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada

      The Honourable Julian Fantino
      Associate Minister of National Defence

      The Honourable Bernard Valcourt
      Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency) (La Francophonie)

      The Honourable Gordon O’Connor
      Minister of State and Chief Government Whip

      The Honourable Maxime Bernier
      Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism)

      The Honourable Diane Ablonczy
      Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs)

      The Honourable Lynne Yelich
      Minister of State (Western Economic Diversification)

      The Honourable Steven John Fletcher
      Minister of State (Transport)

      The Honourable Gary Goodyear
      Minister of State (Science and Technology) (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)

      The Honourable Ted Menzies
      Minister of State (Finance)

      The Honourable Tim Uppal
      Minister of State (Democratic Reform)

      The Honourable Alice Wong
      Minister of State (Seniors)

      The Honourable Bal Gosal
      Minister of State (Sport)

      You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenhui.

      Comments

      11 Comments

      Mike Puttonen

      May 18, 2011 at 10:18am

      Perhaps the biggest cabinet in Canadian history...and B.C. members go down from 5 to 3.

      The shape of things to come.

      Mike Puttonen

      May 18, 2011 at 11:54am

      Just to be clear, I say 3 not 4 because let's face it the "Minister of State" isn't a real cabinet post. While Ms. Chong's riding contains an enormous population of seniors and her appointment seems to make sense, we all know how these things go. She's Raymond Chan, in drag, wearing Tory Blue. And she'll be about as effective as he was....

      B.C. needs at least two more real cabinet posts to even approach a semblance of fairness. Let's start with Fisheries and Oceans and Environment.

      Mike Puttonen

      May 18, 2011 at 12:04pm

      Holy #&%^$# did I get her name wrong?... ...sorry.

      My neighbour's name is... ...and she said...and I was...well...ding it, she's a Tory, too.

      So...here's to Alice WONG...bless you, dear.

      But you're still an empty seat.

      J_J

      May 18, 2011 at 1:21pm

      @Mike

      This is a big cabinet no doubt, but not the biggest. That goes to Mulroney who had 40 members.

      Also, if you don't want to count Minister of State as a full Cabinet post, then B.C. had 4 before the shuffle, since Minister of State for Sport Gary Lunn would not count. Ed Fast's appointment to International Trade is important, considering how Canada's ties to Asia is key to sustaining economic growth.

      Lastly, I don't appreciate your assumptions about Ms. Wong. Raymond Chan was a terrible MP who flip-flopped on various issues, was rarely seen in the community, and had a poor attendance record. By contrast, Alice Wong has proven herself to be a hardworker with a near perfect attendance record and is very visible in the community. The people of Richmond said it best when they gave her a 40% margin of victory over the Liberals. Let's not be so quick to judge.

      glen p robbins

      May 18, 2011 at 8:00pm

      James Moore is going to have is work cut out when Quebec starts moving toward separation. Good luck.

      monty/that's me

      May 18, 2011 at 8:57pm

      Does Ms. Wong have the remotest clue about seniors? What is her educational background and training? As for pursuit of buswiness in Asia that is the stupidest decision this government has ever embarked upon. Our stores are flooded with junk, inferior products, unsafe toys, runners that rot and worst of all OUR CANADIAN JOBS HAVE BEEN SHIPPED OVERSEAS. Wise up folks.

      Ken Lawson

      May 18, 2011 at 10:12pm

      Well I do not agree with any of you, I thought Alice Wong was useless she did not do what she was asked to do on the trip to China. Working hard with whom, certainly not with main stream canadians!

      Steve Y

      May 19, 2011 at 6:27am

      Oprah was in charge of the cabinet... you get a cabinet seat and you get a cabinet seat and YOU get a cabinet seat! Every body gets a cabinet seat!

      Mike Puttonen

      May 19, 2011 at 11:57am

      You makes some good points, @J_J!

      Ms Wong was certainly the people's choice, and why not, she was clearly the best candidate, regardless of party.

      But will that make the Tory family re-unification policy--or rather, non-reunification policy--any better for families in her riding? There will be some spending in her riding on studies and pilot projects, but we'll see if she can make things better for families across Canada that way.
      I know my grand-parents brought my great-grandparents over from Finland after they got settled. It's a Canadian tradition, and if Ms. Wong as Minister of State can help Tubby and The Gang find a way to make it work again, she'll be a success in my eyes.

      Nonetheless, BC's immediate problems lie elsewhere, and when it comes to that, it seems we are expected to go along with whatever Alberta needs...

      Fan'o Truth

      May 19, 2011 at 1:18pm

      @Monty
      Does Ms. Wong have the remotest clue about seniors? What is her educational background and training?

      Like you, I was unaware till today that Wong possesses an earned doctoral degree from UBC:

      From the Alice Wong bio on her MP website

      Before being elected, Alice Wong was teaching ESL and then entrepreneurship at Vancouver Community College and assisting her husband in his family business. She continued her studies at UBC and obtained her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction in 1993. Alice Wong joined Kwantlen University College (now Kwantlen Polytechnic University) in 1998 and became the Manager of International Programs until October 2006.

      http://alicewong.ca/about-alice-wong/

      The Vancouver media have simply pigeon-holed Wong as a social conservative, which she may be for all I know. But to emphasize that picture, they apparently feel it's necessary to withold from their tender readers any informational tidbits which might tend to make that particular picture less stark or make it appear incomplete in any way.

      Consider the following carefully scripted paragraph from the Straight Slate of just a few weeks ago, and notice the contrasting treatment of the career/educational qualifications of Wong and Peschisolido, the latter being the candidate of Canada's once almighty Liberal Party :

      Richmond
      Michael Wolfe (Green)

      The 29-year-old teacher isn’t one of those Green candidates who shows up to put his name on the ballot, and then disappears between elections. Wolfe has been a tireless defender of farmland in Richmond. He’s an articulate proponent of taking action on climate change. Most people believe that Richmond is a contest between Liberal lawyer Joe Peschisolido and Conservative incumbent Alice Wong. Peschisolido ran for the Canadian Alliance in 2000 when Stockwell Day was leader. Wong is a social conservative. New Democrat Dale Jackaman is a computer consultant and antismoking activist.

      http://www.straight.com/article-390033/vancouver/straight-slate