JOSÉE VERNER NEW HERITAGE MINISTER 'She's got her work cut out' CBC Quebec MP Josée Verner will replace Bev Oda as federal heritage minister, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Tuesday.
Verner has been minister for international co-operation and minister for la Francophonie and official languages since Feb. 6, 2006.
"Arts and culture are very important to Quebec and Ms. Verner as a Quebecer will be taking responsibility for those areas," Harper said in a Tuesday afternoon press conference.
Oda, known for her controversial handling of the Canadian Television Fund (CTF), takes Verner's old job as minister for international co-operation.
As a woman, and a Quebecer who took 58 per cent of the vote in her riding in the last election, Verner could be an asset in building voter support for the Harper government.
Verner was elected as an MP for the first time in January 2006 in the riding of Louis-St-Laurent, which takes in northwest and central Quebec City.
However, even before she was elected, she headed Harper's Quebec caucus and was a member of his shadow cabinet.
As a minister who is comfortable working in both English and French, she has an advantage over Oda, who does not speak French. And as one of the more socially progressive Conservative MPs, she may be more comfortable with the arts community.
Verner spent 20 years in communications and public service, including a period working for former Quebec premier Robert Bourassa.
"She's got her work cut out," Alain Pineau, national director of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, said in an interview with CBC News.
In the short term, she will have to deal with issues like the appointment of a CBC CEO and sorting out the mess over funding for summer festivals, which was announced in this year's budget, but never materialized, Pineau said.
"More fundamentally, she has to work hard to establish a clear vision of what the cultural policy of this government is about," he said, noting that the Harper government's arts and culture policy has been "completely haphazard."
Oda's shuffle out of the heritage post is no surprise. She has been perceived as a weak performer, with almost no progress made on any of the hot issues in heritage, including copyright legislation, a museums' policy and a new mandate for the CBC.
Her handling of the CTF was seen as particularly poor, as she failed to discipline the large cable firms when they withdrew their support from the fund that backs production of Canadian shows, then gave in to their demands for a review of the CTF.
A former CRTC commissioner, she also has been criticized by the Opposition as too close to the broadcast industry she is supposed to be regulating.
"The perception is that she's been weak," said Tina Keeper, heritage critic for the Liberals.
"She hasn't had a voice at the cabinet table. She is pulling the party line in arts and culture ... and I suspect they are not interested as a party."
The high point under Oda's leadership has been a permanent $30-million increase in funding, to $180 million a year, for the Canada Council for the Arts.
But she also presided over deep cuts to funds that allowed Canadian artists to travel overseas, Keeper said.
New Democrat heritage critic Charlie Angus said he fears the Conservative government appointed Verner to look good in Quebec.
"I'm afraid they are really thinking of the photo opportunities and setting themselves up for the next election in Quebec," he said.
As heritage minister, Verner will be able to display her largesse at the 400th anniversary of Quebec with celebrations set for next year.
But Angus said he's hopeful Verner will be a stronger advocate for the arts than Oda.
"She needs to really come forward with a coherent vision, but because she's from Quebec, where more value is put on cultural issues, I'm hopeful she'll have more of an interest." |