Gray, Albas in the shadows
Conservative MPs receive new roles in O’Toole’s shadow cabinet
Two of the Okanagan's three Conservative MPs have been named to the party’s shadow cabinet by new leader Erin O’Toole.
Dan Albas is the shadow minister for environment and climate change and Tracy Gray is the shadow minister for export promotion and international trade.
Given the economic and climatological realities in the areas they represent, Gray and Albas said they looked forward to the challenges of dealing with their new party positions.
“Living in the Okanagan region of B.C. over the past decade we have all witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of climate change,” Albas said in a statement. “The once-in-200 year flood has come and gone twice in recent years. It is not uncommon to see temperature records being broken. The added heat and tinder dry forests create wildfires of a size and scope rarely seen before.
“Conditions can become so severe that air quality is seriously compromised,” Albas added, issuing his statement as smoke from U.S. wildfires sent Okanagan air quality plummeting to its lowest level this year Tuesday.
For her part, Gray said she’d strive to represent the interests of the Central Okanagan’s diversified economic sectors.
“Many sectors in Kelowna-Lake Country rely on international trade — ranging from aerospace to agriculture, manufacturing to tourism,” Gray said in a statement. “In my former role as shadow minister for international trade, the pandemic made clear the importance of supply chains, not only within Canada — but when it comes to the importing and exporting of goods and services as well.”
Gray endorsed O’Toole’s leadership bid, but Albas was publicly neutral in the leadership race, won by O’Toole over Peter MacKay last week.
Albas’s riding includes downtown and central Kelowna, the Westside, and Summerland. Gray represents the rest of Kelowna as well as Lake Country.
Mel Arnold, who represents the Conservatives in the Vernon-based riding of North OkanaganShuswap, did not land a shadow cabinet post.
After Parliament resumes in two weeks, O’Toole said the Conservatives would lay out their priorities for the COVID-19 economic recovery in Canada.
“In the coming weeks, we will be presenting a plan to put hardworking Canadians first, lead our nation out of this crisis, and rebuild our great country,” O’Toole said in a statement.
O’Toole's predecessor, Andrew Scheer, will serve as infrastructure critic. Ontario’s Pierre Poilievre will be finance critic, and Alberta MP Michelle Rempel Garner will be health critic.
Parliament’s return is set for later this month.
Ontario MP Michael Chong is taking a big step up to become the Conservatives’ critic for foreign affairs, considered one of the most high-profile portfolios.
That was the portfolio O’Toole himself was granted in 2017 after he lost the leadership race that year to Scheer.
After that contest, Scheer had to find key posts for several other MPs who had challenged him and lost; Chong, who had also run, was given the infrastructure post Scheer occupies now.
In his mix, Scheer left out only two of his rivals: Kellie Leitch, who had been heavily criticized for calling for a “values test” for immigrants, and Brad Trost, who had placed fourth in the race with strong support from social conservatives.
Trost later left politics, and went on to back Ontario MP Derek Sloan for the leadership in the recent race.
Sloan also ran a campaign strongly aimed at social conservatives, and finished last. Though he was the only other MP in the race, he didn’t get a seat on O’Toole’s front bench.
The Conservatives will meet for the first time Wednesday since O’Toole won the leadership.