Go fish: Shea takes up helm of Fisheries and Oceans

By ERIC MCCARTHY

FOR THE SOU’WESTER

Transcontinental Media/The Journal Pioneer

ALBERTON – Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s new cabinet features a number of new faces, among them Egmont MP Gail Shea.

Shea was sworn in as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Thursday, and she expects the new portfolio to keep her busy.

She will be back on P.E.I. on Saturday; she doesn’t know when she will be here next.

“I will have to get a schedule established,” Shea said in a phone interview from Ottawa Thursday shortly before heading into her first federal cabinet meeting. She had just been sworn-in as Minister of Fisheries in the Stephen Harper minority government.

The senior portfolio makes her responsible for fisheries issues from coast-to-coast. “You have to have a good staff,” she acknowledged, pointing out her job will have her attending fisheries meetings all across the country.

Of course, those responsibilities extend to P.E.I., too. “Fisheries is a big industry in P.E.I.,” she noted.

Asked what P.E.I. fishermen will likely be expecting from her, Shea responded, “Somebody who knows their issues. For sure, I will be the next-door neighbour to some.”

“There are a fair number of issues,” she said, noting she plans consultations with stakeholders.

In addition to being Fisheries Minister, as the only Conservative from P.E.I. in the federal caucus, Shea also has responsibilities as Minister Responsible for P.E.I. She inherits them from Nova Scotian Peter MacKay who now takes on new responsibilities as Minister responsible for Newfoundland.

Shea was offered the Fisheries portfolio last week and managed to keep the appointment under wraps until Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony. Two family members and two members of her election campaign team accompanied her to the Ottawa ceremony.