Fifteen parliamentarians to watch this year
The parliamentarians are back in Ottawa on Monday after a lengthy break. Who will shine? Who will stumble? Who will surprise? Here are a few ministers and MPs to watch:
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty (Whitby–Oshawa, Ont.)
Questions circulate about his political future, but Flaherty insists he will stay in his post until the government eliminates a federal deficit estimated at $26 billion. The fall economic update projected the 2012-13 shortfall will be nearly $7 billion larger than forecast in last March’s budget and could delay balancing the books until 2016-17. Flaherty maintains the goal is still to get things on track by the next election, expected in 2015.
International Trade Minister Ed Fast (Abbotsford, B.C.) He has travelled the globe as Canada works on a CanadaEuropean Union free-trade agreement, and recently entered talks on the TransPacific Partnership trade bloc of 11 Pacific Rim nations. Once an agreement is reached on the EU deal, the government will introduce legislation that will face debate in Parliament, with Fast in the spotlight.
Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan (Vancouver Island North) Suddenly, this file is explosive, as an Ontario chief held a protest fast and a grassroots movement called Idle No More vaulted to the top of the headlines in late 2012. Aboriginal politicking has threatened to undermine momentum for change. Can Duncan drive this file into coherent policy?
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird (Ottawa West– Nepean)
Baird will spend the coming months delicately handling some crisis files. What should Canada do as the civil war in Syria festers? What about the spread of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism in African counties? Is this the year that Iran obtains the ability to build a nuclear weapon? Baird continues to enjoy the confidence of Prime Minister Stephen Harper on sensitive issues.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews (Provencher, Man.) Heavily attacked over his Internet snooping bill last year, Toews has worked behind the scenes over the past few months on an important initiative on the cost of policing. Toews and Justice Minister Rob Nicholson will, over the coming months, likely act on some recommendations from that project, despite rumours that Toews is on the way out.
International Development Minister Julian Fantino (Vaughan, Ont.) The former Toronto and Ontario police chief took over the portfolio from Bev Oda — she of high-priced orange juice fame — last July and has wasted no time plunging into his own controversies. First he said the government was linking aid to trade, then he was blasted for freezing funds for future Haiti aid projects. The opposition wants him to face a parliamentary committee over letters posted on a government website. The foreign aid portfolio never gets boring.
Liberal MP Justin Trudeau (Papineau)
Will he waltz to easy victory in the federal Liberal leadership race, or stick his foot in his mouth and sink in ignominious defeat? The Liberal crown is Trudeau’s to lose, but based on the first debate among leadership hopefuls, no one wants to take aim at him. But he has shown a tendency to go offmessage in unfortunate ways.
Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose (Edmonton– Spruce Grove) Ambrose saw her star rise in 2012 as responsibility for the F-35 stealth fighter program, $35-billion national shipbuilding plan and other military procurement projects was transferred to her. But 2013 may be a tougher year as the parliamentary budget officer and auditor general’s Office are both taking a long, hard look at the shipbuilding plan. Will she be able to save it, or will things collapse under her watch?
Conservative MP Erin O’Toole (Durham, Ont.)
O’Toole captured an easy victory in a November byelection after former Conservative cabinet minister Bev Oda resigned her seat in mid-2012. A former Bay Street lawyer and Canadian Forces helicopter pilot, O’Toole is viewed by many as an up-and-comer, and future cabinet minister material. He is the son of John O’Toole, a Progressive Conservative member of Ontario’s legislature.
NDP MP Charmaine Borg (Terrebonne–Blainville) The Official Opposition’s digital issues critic will have her mettle tested in 2013, when the ethics and privacy committee will finalize a report on privacy issues arising from social media use. Other issues, as well, fall into the “digital issues” portfolio, such as data-breach reporting requirements and the still-lingering fight over Bill C-30, the government’s online surveillance bill.
NDP MP Roméo Saganash (Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou)
The high-profile Cree leader returned from rehab for alcohol addiction just as aboriginal discontent hit the headlines. This northern Quebec expert on First Nations issues could become a key voice: He helped negotiate an important revenue-sharing agreement between the Cree and the Quebec government in 2002 and helped negotiate the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Conservative MP Chris Alexander (Ajax–Pickering, Ont.)
The former Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan and current parliamentary secretary for defence has hit all the current affairs TV shows in recent weeks to defend his government’s policies on everything from Mali to the F-35. That suggests Harper trusts him on sensitive files, and he may be on deck for cabinet. The real defence minister, Peter MacKay, may be hoping for a better year than 2012.
Conservative MP Greg Rickford (Kenora, Ont.)
The bilingual lawyer and nurse from Ontario has risen to prominence as a top government spokesman on aboriginal issues. Rickford, parliamentary secretary to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Minister John Duncan, is expected to remain in the spotlight as a steady government voice facing off against the Idle No More protest movement.
NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice (Rosemont–La Petite Patrie) Boulerice had delivered concise sound bites to the Frenchlanguage media on the Harper government’s alleged ethical lapses. The first-term MP from Montreal has frequently drawn criticism from Conservatives over his support for Québec Solidaire, a sovereignist party in the Quebec legislature, but continues to pursue stinging attacks in the House of Commons on the governing party.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May (Saanich–Gulf Islands, B.C.)
The lone Green Party representative in the House of Commons earned praise from peers when she was voted the 2012 parliamentarian of the year. May has caught the government off-guard more than once by carefully studying parliamentary rules and slowing government legislation. She can be expected to pull off more surprises in 2013.