New minister Fortier 'didn't want to run in the election'
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 7, 2006 | 2:47 PM ET
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Conservative cabinet
- Prime Minister - Stephen Harper.
- Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform - Robert Nicholson.
- Leader of the Government in the Senate - Marjory LeBreton.
- Minister of Finance - James Flaherty.
- Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency - Peter MacKay.
- Minister of Justice; Attorney General of Canada - Vic Toews.
- Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics - David Emerson.
- President of Treasury Board - John Baird.
- Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario - Tony Clement.
- Minister of Defence - Gordon O'Connor.
- Minister of Public Safety - Stockwell Day.
- Minister of Veterans Affairs - Gregory Thompson.
- Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board - Chuck Strahl.
- Minister of Fisheries and Oceans - Loyola Hearn.
- Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Metis and Non-Status Indians - Jim Prentice.
- Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities - Lawrence Cannon.
- Minister of Citizenship and Immigration - Monte Solberg.
- Minister of Environment - Rona Ambrose.
- Minister of Natural Resources - Gary Lunn.
- President of the Queen's Privy Council and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister for Sport - Michael Chong.
- Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec - Jean-Pierre Blackburn.
- Minister of Public Works and Government Services - Michael Fortier.
- Minister of Industry - Maxime Bernier.
- Minister of National Revenue and Minister of Western Economic Diversification - Carol Skelton.
- Minister of Human Resources and Social Development - Diane Finley.
- Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women - Bev Oda.
- Minister of International Co-operation and Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages - Josée Verner.
- Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform - Robert Nicholson.
- FROM FEB. 5, 2006: Cabinet includes defector and senator-to-be
A day after his surprise appointment as minister of public works and government services in Ottawa, Fortier told reporters: "I didn't run in the election because I didn't want to run in the election."
He had a "great career" in Montreal and five young children, he said, but Conservative Leader and prime minister-designate Stephen Harper called, and he decided to take the job after talking to his wife.
Michael Fortier in Ottawa Tuesday.
"This isn't what my family was looking forward to," he said. "Even today, it's not easy."
- FROM FEB. 6, 2006: Opposition targets Emerson, Fortier appointments
Fortier is a party organizer who had worked on Harper's 2004 campaign for the leadership of the Conservative party and went on to co-chair the party's national campaigns in 2004 and 2006. Harper has said he took the unusual action of appointing a non-elected person to cabinet in order to have a Montreal representative at the cabinet table.
No Conservative candidates from Montreal ridings were elected on Jan. 23, although 10 Conservatives won seats throughout the province of Quebec.
- INDEPTH: The Conservative cabinet
Asked how he was received by former Reform members in the Conservative ranks, who have long opposed appointing senators, Fortier said "people [in the caucus] gave me the impression they're happy to see me."
He said he will resign his Senate seat before the next federal election, as Harper promised Monday. If the Conservatives succeed in reforming the Senate so that members are elected, Fortier added, "I will think about running at that time."
Senators once served in the unelected Upper Chamber until death, but reforms introduced in 1965 decreed that they must retire at age 75.
"I'm not staying till I'm 75," Fortier said.
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