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Dion names Bob Rae as new foreign affairs critic
09/10/2007 8:40:49 PM
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Liberal Leader Stephane Dion shuffled his shadow cabinet Tuesday, replacing Ujjal Dosanjh with former Ontario premier Bob Rae as the party's foreign affairs critic.
"The current Parliament needs to get to work and produce useful legislation, and this is why I'm adjusting my team by appointing new critics," Dion told reporters.
Rae does not currently have a seat in Parliament, so Bryon Wilfert, the associate foreign affairs critic, will speak for him in the House of Commons.
"He has full responsibility for doing the work in the House, and I have full responsibilities overall as critic," Rae told CTV's Mike Duffy Live.
Rae added that both he and Dion found the idea "a little unorthodox" but they still thought they could "make it work."
In other moves announced Tuesday:
* Dominic LeBlanc is now the intergovernmental affairs critic
* Sue Barnes will chair the newly-formed Caucus Committee on Justice
* Garth Turner, a former Conservative, has been named Dion's special advisor for riding and constituency outreach
* Paul Szabo will chair the Standing Committee on Access to Information and Privacy
Dion told reporters that "Canadians do not want an election," and that his new shadow cabinet will attempt to work with the other parties to pass legislation.
"We have not been obstructionist and we do not intend to be," he said.
Last week, Harper spoke before the National Press Theatre in Ottawa and said he did not want to call a fall election, but suggested he would treat several upcoming votes as confidence motions.
"The prime minister basically said that even if Canadians do not want an election he does," said Dion.
"He said an election is unlikely to produce a majority government, but he bluntly told us that he wants to behave as if he had a majority right now."
Dion said he has no intention of voting against the government's Oct. 16 throne speech until he has a clear idea of what it proposes.
"We'll only be able to decide once we have the speech in hand," he said. "We'll keep all our options open and we will look at the throne speech. We are likely to propose amendments, but we will work constructively."
A Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll released Tuesday suggested the Conservatives currently have a seven-point lead over the Liberals, with 35 per cent of respondents saying they would support the Tories.
The Liberals had 28 per cent support, and in Quebec it was only 14 per cent.
09/10/2007 8:40:49 PM
Article Link
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion shuffled his shadow cabinet Tuesday, replacing Ujjal Dosanjh with former Ontario premier Bob Rae as the party's foreign affairs critic.
"The current Parliament needs to get to work and produce useful legislation, and this is why I'm adjusting my team by appointing new critics," Dion told reporters.
Rae does not currently have a seat in Parliament, so Bryon Wilfert, the associate foreign affairs critic, will speak for him in the House of Commons.
"He has full responsibility for doing the work in the House, and I have full responsibilities overall as critic," Rae told CTV's Mike Duffy Live.
Rae added that both he and Dion found the idea "a little unorthodox" but they still thought they could "make it work."
In other moves announced Tuesday:
* Dominic LeBlanc is now the intergovernmental affairs critic
* Sue Barnes will chair the newly-formed Caucus Committee on Justice
* Garth Turner, a former Conservative, has been named Dion's special advisor for riding and constituency outreach
* Paul Szabo will chair the Standing Committee on Access to Information and Privacy
Dion told reporters that "Canadians do not want an election," and that his new shadow cabinet will attempt to work with the other parties to pass legislation.
"We have not been obstructionist and we do not intend to be," he said.
Last week, Harper spoke before the National Press Theatre in Ottawa and said he did not want to call a fall election, but suggested he would treat several upcoming votes as confidence motions.
"The prime minister basically said that even if Canadians do not want an election he does," said Dion.
"He said an election is unlikely to produce a majority government, but he bluntly told us that he wants to behave as if he had a majority right now."
Dion said he has no intention of voting against the government's Oct. 16 throne speech until he has a clear idea of what it proposes.
"We'll only be able to decide once we have the speech in hand," he said. "We'll keep all our options open and we will look at the throne speech. We are likely to propose amendments, but we will work constructively."
A Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll released Tuesday suggested the Conservatives currently have a seven-point lead over the Liberals, with 35 per cent of respondents saying they would support the Tories.
The Liberals had 28 per cent support, and in Quebec it was only 14 per cent.
