Prime Minister Stephen Harper has appointed a junior minister of
state, Greg Rickford, to be the new natural resources minister, taking
over from Joe Oliver at a critical time for the government’s resource
development agenda.
Representing Kenora, Ont., Mr. Rickford was
first elected in 2008 and has served since last summer as secretary of
state for science and technology and Ottawa’s economic development
initiative in Northern Ontario.
In that job includes he spearheaded the federal effort to kick start
development of Ontario’s Ring of Fire, a mineral-rich area where
companies have struggled to overcome issues involving lack of
infrastructure and consultations with First Nations.
“Minister
Rickford has been a strong supporter of mining, both in his current role
and when he was a backbench MP,” said Pierre Gratton, president of the
Mining Association of Canada. “He comes from a region of Canada where
the value of natural resources is fully understood. He's well suited
for this role.”
The head of Canada’s oil industry association said
Mr. Rickford will have a steep learning curve but appears well suited
to the job.
His “diverse education and experience provides a
strong base for leadership” on resource issues, David Collyer, president
of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said in a
statement.
“Now is a critical time for Canada’s natural resource
sector, and [Mr.] Rickford will need to get up to speed quickly on a
number of files.”
A bilingual lawyer and nurse with an MBA from
Laval University, Mr. Rickford assumes the role as the point man for
what the government calls its “responsible resource development”
strategy, including the construction of crude pipelines from Alberta to
the west coast, the east coast and the U.S. Gulf Coast.
As
minister since 2011, Mr. Oliver led the Harper government’s effort to
counter environmentalists’ opposition to oil sands development, and to
open new markets, particularly in Asia, for Canada’s oil and gas
exports.
Mr. Oliver has also led Ottawa’s consultations with First
Nations in British Columbia as the government works towards a decision
on the Northern Gateway pipeline this summer. The National Energy Board
recommended approval of the oil sands pipeline – which will carry
diluted bitumen from Alberta to export terminals in Kitimat, B.C. – but
many aboriginal communities remain adamantly opposed.
Prior to
entering politics, Mr. Rickford worked in First Nations communities in
northern Ontario as a lawyer and a nurse, and ran locally on a promise
to improve infrastructure and economic conditions for aboriginal
communities there. He later served a parliamentary secretary to the
Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.
As a
local MP, Mr. Rickford came under fire when Ottawa announced the closure
of the Experimental Lakes Area, a world-renown natural laboratory in
northwestern Ontario. Having once described the ELA as “Canada’s most
innovative freshwater research centre,” he changed his tune when the
government announced it would no longer fund the centre and defended the
decision.
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