Toews moves to Public Safety

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Keith Ashfield (CP)

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Peter Van Loan (CP)

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Fred Chartrand / the canadian press Jean-Pierre Blackburn and Stockwell Day (from left) chat with Vic Toews as Rona Ambrose and Peter Van Loan look on. (CP)

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Stockwell Day (CP)

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Lisa Raitt (CP)

The Conservative MP from Provencher was sworn in as the minister of public safety Tuesday, putting him back on familiar ground after spending the last three years in relative cabinet obscurity as the president of the Treasury Board.

His longtime friend and campaign manager, Don Plett, now a Conservative senator, said he was "thrilled" for Toews, noting it works well with Toews' interests and skills.

"It's a natural fit for Minister Toews," Plett said. "He's passionate, clearly, about the safety of Canadians, about border security."

In a written statement, Toews said he was "honoured" to stay in cabinet and move to the new role.

"I look forward to applying my previous experience in this exciting new role," he said.

Toews is a lawyer by education and worked as a Crown attorney and government lawyer before being elected to the Manitoba legislature in 1995, handling a number of portfolios, including attorney general when the Filmon Tories were in power. He made the jump to federal politics in 2000 as the MP for Provencher. He was the justice minister for a year in 2006 and was moved to Treasury Board in 2007.

Toews' new duties run the gamut from national security and anti-terrorism policies to crime prevention, overseeing the RCMP, federal prisons and emergency management of natural disasters. With the attempted terrorist bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner fresh on people's minds, and the new rules for airplane security still in the works, including full-body scanners, Toews' hands will be full just with aviation security alone.

Toews' move was seen as somewhat of a promotion, at least in profile, particularly as border security and crime prevention are key elements of the Harper agenda and will not get sidelined, even in tough fiscal times.

Toews takes on the role just as Harper has handed out orders to conduct a strategic review of the country's public safety policies with a view of identifying critical gaps in air-travel security, critical infrastructure protection and foreign intelligence gathering.

Toews replaces Ontario MP Peter Van Loan in Public Safety, as part of a small cabinet shuffle made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The shuffle left most of Harper's front-bench ministers in place, including Finance (Jim Flaherty), Defence (Peter MacKay), Industry (Tony Clement) and Infrastructure/Transportation (John Baird).

Toews is being replaced by Stockwell Day, who has surprised some by going from a punchline politician during his days as leader of the Canadian Alliance to one of the most capable and well-regarded members of Harper's cabinet.

Harper praised Day Tuesday while giving him responsibility for the office that controls the government's purse strings at a time when slaying the $56-billion deficit is the government's priority.

"I'm assigning this task to one of the most senior members of the cabinet, a former provincial treasurer who has distinguished himself in every portfolio he has held," Harper said.

Ontario MP Lisa Raitt appeared to be punished for missteps last year that included leaving sensitive documents at a television studio and being caught bad-mouthing her cabinet colleagues on tape. Raitt was dumped from Natural Resources into Labour. But Rona Ambrose, the Alberta MP dropped into the low-profile Labour portfolio in 2007 after a difficult time in Environment, was back into prominence, promoted to Public Works.

Manitoba junior cabinet minister Steven Fletcher stays put as minister of state for democratic reform.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said the moving of ministers from one job to another is inconsequential because Harper runs the government like a one-man show and his ministers are just his puppets.

NDP public safety critic Don Davies said he is keeping an open mind about Toews, but said he fears Toews comes into the job with a reputation for being a "my way or the highway" kind of person, which isn't in keeping with the delicate mix of interests involved in public security.

"Mr. Toews has a reputation for being relatively bull-headed," said Davies. "I'm hoping he won't take that approach."

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

The tale on Toews

Name: Victor "Vic" Toews

Age: 57

Born: Paraguay (moved to Manitoba when he was three years old)

Education: Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute (1970), University of Winnipeg (B.A. in history, 1973), University of Manitoba Law School (1976)

Riding: Provencher

MP since: 2000

Previous cabinet posts: Justice ( February 2006-January 2007), Treasury Board (January 2007-January 2010)

Pre-Parliament life: Manitoba MLA for Rossmere, provincial justice minister

Pre-political life: Manitoba Crown attorney, provincial government lawyer

Non-political life: Has three children; says he enjoys rollerblading and jogging.

Skinny on Public Safety

The minister of public safety has five main responsibilities: emergency management, national security (including border security), crime prevention, law enforcement and corrections.

Five agencies report to the minister: Canada Border Services, RCMP, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Correctional Service of Canada, National Parole Board.

Cabinet shuffle winners

Stockwell Day: Moves from International Trade to Treasury Board, where he will lead the government's pivotal effort to limit public spending as part of the effort to slay the deficit.

Keith Ashfield: Enters cabinet as minister of national revenue and minister for the Atlantic Gateway.

Rona Ambrose: Moves from the low-profile Labour portfolio to running the huge Public Works department.

Rob Moore: Enters cabinet as junior minister for Small Business and Tourism.

Shuffle losers

Lisa Raitt: Moves from Natural Resources to the Labour post. Raitt stirred controversy by referring to the medical isotope crisis as a "sexy" issue and for past questionable expenses as president of the Toronto Port Authority.

Peter Van Loan: Moves to International Trade from the high-profile Public Safety portfolio where he was the government's point man on terrorism threats.

Other chess moves

Jean-Pierre Blackburn (Quebec): From Revenue to Veteran's Affairs

Christian Paradis (Quebec): From Public Works to Natural Resources

Diane Ablonczy (Alberta): From minister of state, small business and tourism to minister of state, seniors

Greg Thompson (New Brunswick): From Veterans' Affairs to resigning cabinet seat, triggering shuffle

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 20, 2010 A3