Poilievre picks experience over fresh faces in 74-person 'shadow cabinet'

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has tapped more than half of his MPs to serve in critic roles when Parliament reopens next week, drawing largely from more experienced caucus members rather than promoting fresh faces.  On Wednesday, Poilievre unveiled the Conservatives’ “shadow cabinet,” a name the Official Opposition uses to refer to their critics in the House of Commons. Because Poilievre lost his seat in last month’s federal election, Andrew Scheer, a longtime Conservative and former party leader, will serve as the party’s leader in the House. Poilievre now plans to run in a yet-to-be-called byelection in rural Alberta, after one of his MPs decided to temporarily step down. Melissa Lantsman and Tim Uppal will remain as Conservative deputy leaders, while Arpan Khanna will serve as the party’s national outreach coordinator. Pierre Paul-Hus, a Quebec MP, remains in his role as Quebec lieutenant. Mark Strahl, the MP for Chilliwack—Hope, will act as a special advisor for British Columbia.  Other Conservatives continuing in more prominent roles include Jasraj Singh Hallan, who will remain the party’s critic for finance, a role Poilievre himself once held. Larry Brock, a Conservative MP from Ontario, will return as the Conservatives’ justice critic.  Scott Aitchinson, who ran against Poilievre in the party’s 2022 leadership race, will remain the critic for housing. “Canada must become a self-reliant country where hard work guarantees people a beautiful home on a safe street protected by solid borders and united under a proud flag. Lately, it hasn’t felt that way,” Poilievre said in a statement. “Crime, inflation, deficits, and job losses are ballooning. Immigration is out of control. Our economy is more dependent on the U.S., and the country is more divided than ever before.” Poilievre also reiterated his earlier statement that the Conservatives were willing to work with the minority Liberals. “We will work with the government to put an end to unfair American tariffs or to pass good laws—but we will fight hard when the government is wrong,” he said on Wednesday. In terms of changes, Poilievre tapped Shelby Kramp-Neuman, a Conservative MP from Ontario, to act as the party’s critic on Canada-U.S. trade. Previously, Saskatchewan MP Randy Hoback had worked as a special advisor to the leader on Canada-U.S. relations.  Adam Chambers will take on the critic role for international trade, while Michael Chong, a longtime MP, will remain the party’s critic for foreign affairs.  In terms of other changes, Frank Caputo, an MP from B.C., will be the critic for public safety, a role previously held by Winnipeg MP Raquel Dancho before she left on maternity leave.  Dancho will act as the party’s critic for industry, a cabinet portfolio now held by Industry Minister Melanie Joly.  Poilievre also welcomed back into the fold Michelle Rempel Garner, a longtime Conservative MP from Calgary, whom he declined to give a critic role to following the 2022 leadership race, where she backed Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown. Rempel Garner, one of the Conservatives’ most experienced MPs, will become the party’s immigration critic in Parliament, replacing Tom Kmiec. At 74, Poilievre’s list of critics is nearly double that of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet, which includes 28 cabinet ministers and 10 secretaries of state. While the Conservatives grew their caucus size in Parliament by nearly 20 seats, only a handful of the newly-elected MPs were handed critic roles. They include Billy Morin, former chief of Enoch Cree Nation in Alberta, and Ellis Ross, a former B.C. cabinet minister. Morin was named as critic for Indigenous Services, and Ross, who is also Indigenous, was picked to be the critic for the environment and climate change.  Other new faces include Éric Lefebvre, whom Poilievre named as the Conservatives’ associate critic for finance, and Gaétan Malette, picked as the associate critic for natural resources.  Those left off the list include Jamil Jivani, an outspoken MP from Ontario, as well as Shuvaloy Majumdar, a Calgary MP with a background in foreign policy and Roman Baber, who also ran against Poilievre in the 2022 leadership. Newly-elected Conservatives like Andrew Lawton, a former broadcaster and biographer of Poilievre, also was not named as a critic, same with Aaron Gunn, a filmmaker whose comments on social media regarding residential schools drew condemnation from some B.C. Indigenous leaders during the federal election campaign. Sandra Cobena, a former bank manager who worked in commercial business and was elected to the Greater Toronto Area riding of Newmarket-Aurora, was also left off the list, as was Ned Kuruc, an entrepreneur from Hamilton who flipped the riding of Hamilton East-Stoney Creek for the Conservatives. National Post staylor@postmedia.com Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. 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