Many in Ottawa — media types, lobbyists, and opposition politicians — thought that Calgary MP Diane Ablonczy (right) would easily make it to cabinet on Stephen Harper's first go-around with this in February of 2006. But it was only last week – three shuffles later — that Ablonczy made it in, albeit as a junior minister. Ablonczy had been Parliamentary Secretary to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and did some good work in that role, some caucus and other sources tell me.
Today, on CTV's Question Period, my colleague Graham Richardson talked to Ablonczy about her elevation and her new job:
GRAHAM RICHARDSON: A long-time Conservative, all the way back to the early days of reform, a supporter of Preston Manning in the leadership for the Canadian Alliance, always thought to be cabinet material, but Diane Ablonczy must have wondered whether that would ever happen. Well, it has. The New Secretary of State for Small Business and Tourism joins us. Congratulations, good afternoon.
DIANE ABLONCZY (Secretary of State Small Business and Tourism): Well,
it's good to be here.RICHARDSON: Did you think it was going to happen? Why now, do you think?
ABLONCZY: Oh, I had actually given up on thinking that I would actually get an appointment like this because there are so many of us in Calgary, and Alberta, of course, because that's where a lot of the longest serving MPs have been, so I was pretty much resigned to maybe playing a different role, and that was okay. But I was really pleased to be asked to do this.
RICHARDSON: Was it honestly just geography or, from your perspective or
was the history of supporting Preston Manning a factor in you not being brought into cabinet?ABLONCZY: No, I don't believe that was a bit of a factor, and I say that genuinely because the Prime Minister is not like that at all, and you know that there are delicate balances in cabinet-making. I think the Prime Minister is a very decisive manager, and he's now I think really fitting people into positions where he feels that they can make the best contribution, although regional balance will still be a factor, I think maybe less so as time goes on.
RICHARDSON: And there has been talk about gender balance. You're not a full minister. There are no women in senior, senior posts in this cabinet. Why? Is there an issue?
ABLONCZY: I don't believe there's an issue. We have some very capable women in all parties, and they are working flat out in the positions they've been given. So I don't think we should look at that. I think we should look at the fact that we've got the right people in the right places throughout parliament making it work well for Canadians.
RICHARDSON: But as a voter, women voters in Edmonton look at Anne McLellan's record and appreciate the proportion the Liberals had, is not that far from what you have in terms of, but in terms of the positions, I mean Anne McLellan was a big force in the Chretien cabinet. So the question is why isn't there someone like yourself in a similar position
in the Harper cabinet?ABLONCZY: Well I don't know about that. You know, it may be, I think Anne was very capable. It may be that she was promoted because she won by such small margins. I mean, who knows, there's always political considerations, but I do know the Prime Minister's style is to fit the right people in the right places, and I just don't think it's very useful to look at gender and either promote or apply people in a place where they might not be best suited just because of gender or any other characteristic.
RICHARDSON: From your perspective, what is the challenge for this government this fall?
ABLONCZY: I think the challenge is to continue on the agenda that brought us into office, that Canadians gave us a mandate on. We've made good progress on all of the five priorities that we've had, but there are still some things to do. Our justice agenda, you know a lot of our bills are still stuck either in the house or the senate. In making sure that we have progress on patient wait times, now we have commitments on all the provinces to address wait times, but there's more to do. And we want to, of course, continue to democratize and bring accountability to the operation, so all of those things will be continuing on.
RICHARDSON: And you're surprised to be here I bet. Some people are surprised that there's still a government. Is that part of the exercise, you've got to figure out the story that you need to tell because you only thought you'd have to tell an 18 month story.
ABLONCZY: Well it's true. I mean I think everyone felt an 18 month minority government would be as long as it would go. Now it looks like we might go until the legislated next election date which will be October of 2009. It's really up to the opposition, isn't it? Because
they're the ones with the votes to bring down the government, to force an election earlier if they decide to do that. The government itself has to really address their mind to governing because that's what we have to, we're here to do.RICHARDSON: I know it's only been a few days, but I want to ask you something on your portfolio. The Canadian dollar has hit tourism very, very hard, whether it's Waterton Lakes National Park or Niagara-on-the-Lake, a lot of border communities are hurting, the Americans aren't coming. How do you fix that?
ABLONCZY: I think the important thing is to show tourism, both internationally and from the US, the advantages of being in Canada because we have so much to offer. I mean you that you and I were just talking, you lived out west for a brief period of time. I just visited the east coast for the caucus meetings. You can do no better in tourism than Canada.
RICHARDSON: But they are looking at the bottom line…
ABLONCZY: We have to get that message out.
RICHARDSON: They are looking at the bottom line.
ABLONCZY: There really is no bottom line. I mean if you go to Europe, it costs you three times what it costs in Canada, and you don't see the kind of natural beauty that we have. The US visitors still have a discount on the dollar, it's not as big as it was, but it is an
advantage. So I just think it's a communications issue, and we have the product. We've just got to get really, really good at selling it.RICHARDSON: Diane Ablonczy, thanks so much for being here and congratulations. Appreciate it.
ABLONCZY: Well it was a pleasure. Thank you.