The Prime Minister’s Office announced a new slate of cabinet ministers on Oct. 26, and NWT MP Michael McLeod’s name was absent once again.
“It isn’t something I chase,” he said. “I didn’t put my name forward to be the MP so that I could be a minister.
“I would welcome the opportunity and I am available — and the prime minister knows that — however, there is lots of work to be done where I am.
“I’m good with being a regular MP and getting investments for the Northwest Territories. That’s really what it is all about,” said McLeod.
A former GNWT minister and past mayor of Fort Providence, McLeod has been a steadfast Northern member of the Trudeau government since it was first elected to office in 2015.
He has also outlasted his colleagues in the neighbouring territories, among them Hunter Tootoo in Nunavut, who served only a single term and who resigned from cabinet after several months as minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard in 2015-16
Larry Bagnell from the Yukon, who chose not to run in October’s federal election, served as parliamentary secretary to the minister of Economic Development and Official Languages (Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency).
“I’m not really concerned per se. I am disappointed that nobody from the North has been tapped to sit at the cabinet table,” McLeod said of the new crop of ministers.
Overall, though, he said he’s happy to be working with familiar faces again — ministers returning to portfolios with whom he has built working relationships.
Chrystia Freeland, for example, is returning as Finance minister, and McLeod said Marc Miller overseeing Crown and Indigenous Relations is an “exciting” decision by the government.
Dominic LeBlanc, another senior MP who McLeod said is familiar with the North, will be in the role of minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities.
“I’m quite pleased with how it turned out, and I had expected that we’d see a bit of a shuffle and we’d see some new members being appointed and a few changes,” McLeod said. “But I think this is more of a major overhaul than a lot of us were really expecting to see.”
Dan Vandal, a Winnipeg MP who took the Northern Affairs portfolio during the last session, will be returning to that role with added responsibilities of minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada and minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.
“Dan Vandal has been excellent as a minister for Northern Affairs,” McLeod said. “He’s communicated well with different levels of governments and organizations in the Northwest Territories as well as Nunavut and Yukon.”
Several cabinet ministers came to the NWT prior to the pandemic, but since then travel restrictions have presented difficulties, said McLeod. The aim is to get Prime Minister Trudeau back as soon as it’s safe to do so.
“We also want the prime minister to come to the Northwest Territories,” he said. “We’ve tried a couple of times where he wanted to come but the pandemic has really made it difficult to arrange any travel.”
Parliamentarians are to resume session on Nov. 22.
“We’re not sure if it’s going to be a hybrid session or it’s going to be required attendance in-person at this point, but we are to know soon,” McLeod said.
Dealing with Covid-19 will remain a priority, he said, but the economy is also needing further attention, McLeod acknowledged.
“All of us agree that the pandemic has to be something that we continue to focus on and the economy is something that I think everybody in the country wants to see grow and bounce back,” he said.
Closer to home, housing, climate change, reconciliation and getting $10 daily daycare remain continued challenges, he said.
“Home ownership for us in the Northwest Territories is something that we heard loud and clear,” he said. From the time I got elected 2015 to this past election, housing has been an issue.
“There’s a lot of work to be done.”