Poilievre given newly created file as O’Toole shuffles shadow cabinet
By Jeff Morris, Manotick Messenger
Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre has a new position in the Conservative Party of Canada’s shadow cabinet.
Opposition leader Erin O’Toole shuffled his roster of critics last week as the Conservatives are prioritizing the rebuilding of the Canadian economy after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Poilievre had been the party’s finance critic for the past few years, and was relentless with the pressure he put on Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over ethics issues, including the WE scandal, to the Liberal Government’s handling of the federal debt.
“Canadians are worried about their economic future,” O’Toole said in a media release. “Canadians have seen what happened when the Liberal government was in charge of getting vaccines, can we trust them with our economic recovery? Canada’s Conservatives are here to secure jobs, secure our economy, and secure our future.”
As part of the shuffle, Poilievre will be placed in a new role as Shadow Minister for Jobs and Industry.
“Our team is relentlessly focused on rounding the corner in this pandemic and getting Canadians back to work,” O’Toole said. “We can’t afford a Liberal economic experiment that has failed wherever it’s been tried before and will put untold Canadians out of work.”
Earlier this month, Poilievre was critical of the Trudeau Liberals and the job situation in Canada.
“Canada lost 213,000 jobs in January,” Poilievre said. “That’s fewer paychecks for families and even more credit card debt for households… Conservatives are focused on securing real jobs, in real industries, for all Canadians.”
Poilievre weas critical of more than just the jobs lost in January.
“The Liberals need to present a budget, their first in two years, that will get Canadians back to work and bring our economy roaring back to life,” Poilievre said. “Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland have left Canada with the lowest vaccination rates, biggest deficit and among the highest jobless rate in the G7.
“Canada needs a worker-led recovery that will unleash the true economic potential of our 20-million-person workforce in order to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. We will continue to work for those who have been left behind by Justin Trudeau and focus on creating prosperity and getting Canadians back to work.”
In addition to Poilievre being named the Shadow Minister for Jobs and Industry, there were 11 other moves made by O’Toole. They include James Cumming (Edmonton Centre, AB) – Shadow Minister for COVID-19 Economic Recovery; Raquel Dancho (Kildonan-St. Paul , MB) – Shadow Minister for Future Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion; Hon. Ed Fast (Abbotsford, BC) – Shadow Minister for Finance; Jasraj Singh Hallan (Calgary Forest Lawn, AB) – Shadow Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship; Rachael Harder (Lethbridge, AB) – Shadow Minister for Digital Government; Richard Lehoux (Beauce, QC) – Associate Shadow Minister for Rural Economic Development; Dane Lloyd (Sturgeon River-Parkland, AB) – Shadow Minister for Rural Economic Development; John Nater (Perth-Wellington, ON) – Shadow Minister for Middle Class Prosperity; Jamie Schmale (Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock, ON) – Shadow Minister for Crown-Indigenous Relations; and Corey Tochor (Saskatoon-University, SK) – Shadow Minister for Families, Children and Social Development.
