Boissonnault was the cabinet’s sole representative from Alberta and ministerial lead for the rebuilding of the fire-ravaged town of Jasper
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finds himself leading a cabinet with zero representation from the western provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan after the departure of embattled former employment minister Randy Boissonnault on Wednesday.
Trudeau will now need to do this without a single emissary in his cabinet to either Alberta or Saskatchewan, both major exporters of energy and agricultural products to the U.S.
Calgary Conservative MP Greg McLean told the National Post on Tuesday that Trudeau has himself to blame for the lack of representation.
“There’s a reason (the Liberals) don’t have good representation in Alberta,” said McLean. “It’s because they’ve worked against Alberta’s interests for a long time.”
Liberal prime ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin each tended to promote MPs from the two provinces to senior cabinet positions.
Ex-Alberta MP Anne McLellan and ex-Saskatchewan MP Ralph Goodale, for example, were both senior ministers in successive Liberal cabinets in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Goodale was subsequently defeated in the 2019 election, putting an end to his near 26-year run as an MP.
Yet Trudeau now finds himself without an olive branch to extend to the two western provinces, both of which have historically leaned conservative.
Chahal told the National Post on Wednesday that Boissonault had done a “great job” coordinating recovery efforts in Jasper but declined to say whether he was prepared to take on the role in the event of Boissonault’s departure.
To make matters even worse, Trudeau has a non-existent talent pool to draw from in Saskatchewan, where the Conservative Party has swept all 14 seats in successive elections.
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