Canada’s new Finance Minister, the Honourable Joe Oliver being sworn in. #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/fDam51YD6N
— Stephen Harper (@pmharper) March 19, 2014
We have a new finance minister. And there’s no getting around it — he’s old. In fact, according to the Library of Parliament, no finance minister in our history has ever been as old as Joe Oliver upon taking up his duties as Finance minister. Oliver will be 74-years-old on May 20. He’s got a decent shot at being the oldest finance minister ever but the Conservatives would have to win 2015 general election and Oliver would have to be re-appointed as finance minister. The oldest finance minister in our history was also the one who served in the post the longest: Liberal William Stevens Fielding who, when he retired in 1925, was 76, 9 months and 10 days old.
Oliver, though, has vowed to run again in his Toronto riding of Eglinton-Lawrence. And as he’ll likely be finance minister right up until the 2015 election — when he’ll be 75 years and 4 months or so old. At that point he’ll be the 11th oldest Minister of the Crown in our history.
Why is his age an issue? Well, this time last year Oliver was recovering from heart bypass surgery. How’s he doing? Second: Oliver will be the point man now to sell the Harper government’s Economic Action Plan. Heading to the general election of 2015, the Conservatives will be going up against a “young, energetic” Justin Trudeau. Some questions we’ve been asking internally about this: Does presenting themselves as the party of a bunch of old men help or hurt? Of course, seniors always have the highest turnout, but it could give the image of a tired government.
Oliver isn’t the most dynamic speaker by any means though he, along with Jason Kenney, are the best French-language speakers among non-Quebec MPs.
Perhaps Harper didn’t want a flashier finance minister as the party plans to make it all about the PM and the economy. Harper may also have been concerned about promoting someone with leadership ambitions.
On the other hand, Oliver’s no dummy and his resume is easily as strong — or stronger — than many others to have held the job. He’s got a Harvard MBA and spent 40 years on Bay Street including a stint as president of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada. There’s every reason to believe he’ll be perfectly competent finance minister.
And,in any event, his timing couldn’t be better. His predecessor, Jim Flaherty, had done all the heavy lifting to get rid of the deficit and when Oliver tables the 2015 budget, it will feature an out-sized surplus which the Conservatives can promise to dish back to Canadians in the form of tax cuts, new spending programs or a mix of both — all in an election year.
Of some note, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has appointed some of the oldest ministers ever in our history but also many of the youngest. Ranked by age at the time of their appointment, Harper appointees Oliver and Julian Fantino are among the top 20 “oldest” ministers at the time of their appointment. But among the top 20 “youngest” ministers at the time of their appointment are six Harper appointees: James Moore, Christian Paradis, Michelle Rempel, Michael Chong, Rob Moore, and Pierre Poilievre.
Oliver had been serving as Minister of Natural Resources. He passes that torch to Greg Rickford, a smart 46-year-old MP from northern Ontario who had been a minister of state for science.
Greg Rickford is Canada’s new Min of Natural Resources, and will continue his responsibilities for Fednor. #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/WubGTUkekM
— Stephen Harper (@pmharper) March 19, 2014
Rickford will retain responsibility for FEDNOR, the regional economic development agency for northern Ontario. Rickford represents the northwestern Ontario riding of Kenora and one of the big economic development issues for his riding and the rest of the region has been the Ring of Fire. Rickford could not now be better placed to move that file forward for the betterment of his own region.
Rickford first went into cabinet last summer as Minister of State responsible for Science. That job now falls to cabinet newbie London West MP Ed Holder.
And @EdHolder_MP will fill the role of Minister of State (Science and Technology). #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/nUDfZnc8WR
— Stephen Harper (@premierministre) March 19, 2014
Holder is 59 and among the most popular of MPs on all sides of the House mostly, in my estimation, because he takes a genuine interest in just about everyone he meets, avoids being mean and disrespectful to his opponents, and has a great sense of humour.
Joe is pro free market and probably anti regulation, we need to worry more about that than his age.