Stephen Harper takes the oath of office today to become Canada's 22nd prime minister as his wife and children, left, look on. (Fred Chartrand/CP)
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Promising change but using a page from an old political playbook, Stephen Harper became Canada's 22nd Prime Minister today.
He picked a cabinet whose key members have previous experience as ministers at the provincial level and immediately reiterated election campaign pledges that his minority Conservative government will make accountability its highest priority.
The new Parliament will reconvene on April 3, he said today.But in his first public remarks after taking the oath of office, Mr. Harper was forced to explain two surprise appointments to his 27-member cabinet — defector David Emerson, re-elected just last month as a Liberal in Vancouver, who moves from industry to trade, and Montreal lawyer Michael Fortier, the Tory campaign co-chairman who will be appointed to the Senate so he can sit at the cabinet table as public works minister.
Mr. Harper called it a "great honour and an enormous responsibility" to be prime minister.
"We will improve Canadians' faith in public institutions by making government more accountable and effective," he promised.
The Conservative minority government will search for common ground with other parties in the House, Mr. Harper said, promising that his highest priorites will be cleaning up government, cutting the goods and services tax, reducing health care waiting times, and implementing a family child-care allowance.
"The peaceful transition of government is a blessing of democracy," Mr. Harper said after the swearing in ceremonies at Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor-General.
Wasting no time, the new cabinet held its first meeting on Parliament Hill this afternoon to discuss the Throne Speech and federal budget.
Earlier, Mr. Harper defended the two controversial appointments by noting that Vancouver and Montreal are important cities, but neither elected Conservative MPs in the Jan. 23 election.
Rewarding political defectors with cabinet posts is an old tradition in Canadian politics — Belinda Stronach's move last year from the Tories to the Liberal front benches was only the most recent example. And Liberal and Tory governments for generations have named party campaign bosses to the Senate.
Mr. Harper told reporters Mr. Fortier, a Montreal lawyer, has promised to resign from the Senate and seek a seat in the House in the next election.
Mr. Harper said he thought Mr. Emerson's voters will understand his defection.
But Bill Graham, the interim Liberal Leader in the House, immediately rapped the appointments of Mr. Fortier and his former colleague Mr. Emerson.
As Public Works Minister, Mr. Fortier is in charge of how millions of federal dollars are spent every year and "we need someone who will be responsible to elected MPs in the House," Mr. Graham told reporters.
Referring to Mr. Emerson's defection, Mr. Graham said, "I find it worrisome that Mr. Harper has chosen someone for his cabinet who was elected under the Liberal banner just a couple of weeks ago."
This is totally inconsistent with Mr. Harper's view of defections when Belinda Stronach left the Conservative fold to join the Liberals, Mr. Graham said.
NDP Leader Jack Layton said it is very disappointing to see Mr. Emerson's defection so close to his election as a Liberal.
"People will be feeling there was an element of deception" in the vote, he said. "Canadians voted for change and to see this on the very first day of a new government has to be regarded as a setback."
The proper course for Mr. Emerson if he could no longer abide the Liberal party, Mr. Layton said, is to sit as an independent, or resign and run as a Conservative in a by-election.
The NDP ran second in Mr. Emerson's riding and the Conservatives a distant third.
The Conservative Leader was able to tap the experience of a number of former provincial ministers from all parts of the country in putting together a pared down 27-member cabinet, including Mr. Harper. The last Liberal cabinet had 37 ministers.
Former Ontario treasurer Jim Flaherty becomes finance minister. Former Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay of Nova Scotia is the new foreign affairs minister.
Tony Clement, another veteran of the Mike Harris Ontario government, is health minister and Lawrence Cannon, a former provincial minister from Quebec, is the transport minister.
Full cabinet list, mini-profiles, photos
Vic Toews of Manitoba will be justice minister, while Rob Nicholson, a minister under Kim Campbell, will be Government House Leader. Rona Ambrose of Edmonton takes the environment portfolio.
Mr. Harper took the oath of office in ceremonies at Rideau Hall, presided over by Governor-General Michaëlle Jean, first in French and then English, with his personal Bible.
He was officially sworn in by Alex Himmelfarb, clerk of the Privy Council, as his wife, Laureen, and their two young childen watched.
The cabinet drops the post of deputy prime minister. The new ministers arrived in cars and taxis — an apparent effort to show that they are closer to the people than the Liberals, who used limousines.
Mr. Harper boasted at his news conference that his cabinet is "talented and diverse, reflecting all of Canada."
However, he's sure to face criticism for appointing just six women and two visible minorities.
Gordon O'Connor, a former army general, is the defence minister, a key post given Conservative plans to beef up the military, particularly its presence in the Arctic.
The former leader of the Canadian Alliance, Stockwell Day, becomes public safety minister, in charge of key anti-terrorism agencies, including the RCMP and CSIS.
The Conservatives placed a lot of emphasis on law-and-order issues in opposition, and Mr. Harper seemed to be highlighting those concerns with the appointment of Mr. Day and Mr. Toews, who has been a strong advocate for mandatory minimum prison sentences for gun crimes.
The new Tory cabinet has six women, including Senator Marjory LeBreton, who becomes Government Leader in the Senate. The larger Liberal cabinet had nine women.
The Conservative caucus is heavy with MPs from the West, and many stalwarts from the region, including Calgarian Diane Ablonczy and Jay Hill from British Columbia, did not make the cut.
Jason Kenney, another Westerner who did not make it into cabinet, is slated for a key post as parliamentary secretary to Mr. Harper.
In the regional balancing act, Mr. Harper named as total of 10 MPs from Western Canada, eight from Ontario, five from Quebec, including Mr. Fortier, and three from Atlantic Canada.
Bev Oda becomes the first Japanese-Canadian cabinet minister. She's the heritage minister and minister for the status of women.
Four of the 10 new Tory MPs from Quebec get cabinet posts. In addition to Mr. Fortier and Mr. Cannon at transport, they are Jean-Pierre Blackburn at labour, Maxime Bernier at Industry and Josée Verner at international co-operation.
Chuck Strahl of British Columbia, who is battling lung cancer, becomes agriculture minister.
Other westerners include Jim Prentice, minister of Indian affairs and northern development; Monte Solberg, minister of citizenship and immigration; and Gary Lunn, minister of natural resources.
Other ministers include:
- President of Treasury Board — John Baird
- Minister of Veterans Affairs — Gregory Thompson
- Minister of Fisheries and Oceans — Loyola Hearn.
- President of the Queen's Privy Council and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister for Sport — Michael Chong
- Minister of Human Resources and Social Development — Diane Finley
Earlier today, Paul Martin officially tendered his resignation as prime minister to the Governor-General.
Mr. Martin, whose government was defeated in the Jan. 23 election, slipped in a side door to Rideau Hall earlier than expected, avoiding journalists, and completed the resignation formalities in a brief meeting with the Governor-General.
He then came out the front door, waved to the cameras, climbed into a waiting car, and drove off without taking any questions.
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