Cathy McLeod, Member of Parliament for Kamloops-Thompson- Cariboo says the Jan. 14, 2019, Cabinet Shuffle was a lost opportunity for the Prime Minister to reset his government’s worst failures. Instead, he only shuffled the deck without playing his cards right.
“Major pipeline projects are stalled and going nowhere, while truck convoys are preparing to head for Ottawa. Meanwhile, the budget is still in huge deficit, with no plan to get back to balance for another 20 years,” said McLeod. “Today’s minor cabinet shuffle sends a clear message that Justin Trudeau is happy to allow these failures to continue without correction.”
“It’s a real shame that the Prime Minister moved an inexperienced Minister into the Indigenous Services portfolio. Seamus O’Regan’s track record is certainly not stellar. He allowed a cop-killer, who has not served a day in the military, to keep receiving benefits from Veterans Affairs Canada. Under his watch, the number of veterans waiting for disability benefits has ballooned to more than 29,000, with one-third of veterans waiting over four months for the benefits owed to them. He even had the gall to compare leaving his job at CTV news to soldiers being discharged from the army,” stated McLeod.
“The Indigenous Services file is supposed to introduce federal legislation on Indigenous child and family services as soon as the House returns. This important promised legislation has only 14 sitting weeks to be delivered. This change in Minister’s proves this government has not made this a top priority,” said McLeod. “Finally, as people in rural Canada are suffering and starting to rise up, the Prime Minister thinks that creating a new Ministry of Rural Economic Development will appease them. My message for him is that it’s going to take a lot more than a new department of bureaucrats to help those in need,”
