OTTAWA – Two names in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new 30-member cabinet will be of particular interest to Canada’s communication industry.
The role of Industry Minister has vanished, as the PM opted to mesh the ministries of science and technology and Industry Canada under the department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. Navdeep Singh Bains (Mississauga-Malton, ON) was named minister of that portfolio.
After entering federal politics in 2004 as MP for Mississauga–Brampton South, Bains served as parliamentary secretary to the PM and a Liberal critic for various portfolios. He is Certified Management Accountant, holds an MBA with a specialization in finance, and worked for several years in accounting and financial analysis for the Ford Motor Company of Canada. Most recently he was a professor at Ryerson University's management school.
Mélanie Joly (Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC) was appointed Minister of Canadian Heritage. Joly is an Oxford-educated lawyer and well versed in public-relations, having once held the role of managing partner of the public relations firm Cohn & Wolfe in Montreal. She ran unsuccessfully for the position of mayor of Montreal in 2013.
“I very much look forward to working with Minister Joly, who I’m sure will be a great advocate for Canada’s creative industries, including the independent film, television and digital media production industry” said CMPA president and CEO Reynolds Mastin, in a statement. “Fostering the growth of our industry, including its capacity to attract greater capital, create jobs as well as strengthen and promote our rich Canadian identity, is a goal we all share.”
