
Buckley Belanger, Sask.'s sole Liberal MP, appointed as secretary of state for rural development
Saskatchewan MP Buckley Belanger has been named as secretary of state for rural development as part of Prime Minister Mark Carney's announcement of his new federal cabinet.
Belanger, who represents the Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River riding, is the sole Liberal MP from Saskatchewan.
"We actually have a voice now, somebody that will listen and speak for us," said Rebecca Sylvestre, one of Belanger's constituents from Birch Narrows Dene Nation. "I was so happy to hear that he got elected, because he's not gonna leave us in the dark."
Sylvestre said on Tuesday that she's known Belanger for many years and that he personally played a role in helping her get through difficult experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before he ran federally, Belanger served as the MLA for Athabasca from 1995 to 2021. Initially elected as a Liberal, he switched to the Saskatchewan NDP in 1998. Before entering provincial politics he was the mayor of Île-à-la-Crosse from 1988 to 1994.
Sylvestre runs Turnor Lake and Birth Narrows Community Food Centre and said she received a letter from Belanger thanking her for her community advocacy when he was an MLA.
"I never got that from anybody else."
Now that Belanger holds the secretary of state role, Sylvestre said she's most interested in him helping solve issues of access to health care that have been affecting rural communities.
"Our emergency centres are shut down because there's no nurses, there's no doctors. So where do we have to go? We have to travel hours, ambulance travel hours to come and get our people," she said.
Carney's 2nd cabinet
Carney named 28 cabinet ministers and 10 secretaries of state on Tuesday. Thirteen members of the cabinet are newly elected MPs, as are nine of the secretaries of state.
Belanger is one of those new MPs. He defeated Conservative candidate Jim Lemaigre in the federal election on April 28. The Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River riding had previously been held by Conservative MP Gary Vidal, who beat Belanger in the 2021 federal election.
The secretaries will be members of the privy council and have been selected to deal with "key issues" within the federal government.
Bobby Cameron, chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, said he knows Belanger personally and is satisfied with the appointment. Like Sylvestre, he said the Indigenous and northern representation is important.
The biggest priorities Cameron wants to see tackled are treaty rights in rural areas, improving child welfare and health care services, and an on-reserve police force that several First Nations have been advocating for.
"He sees where development is needed within our communities in northern Saskatchewan," Cameron said. "He sees it, he's lived there, he's experienced it, he understands fully where improvement needs to happen."
What does a secretary of state do?
Secretary of state roles within the federal government have been used intermittently over the past 30 years. They have sometimes been called junior ministers. They have not been official positions since 2008.
They are not part of the cabinet, but may be invited to cabinet or cabinet committee meetings when matters related to their responsibilities are being discussed or if their expertise is needed.
"My instinct is that this is a way to ensure that there's somebody who can focus on questions speaking to rural development and rural Canadians, and somebody who ministers can go to and bring into the discussion when issues important to those regions come up," said Daniel Westlake, who teaches politics at the University of Saskatchewan.
As for how that will play out under Carney, Westlake said the public need to wait and see what his style of governing is.
"Cabinet is a little bit of a black box, in that different prime ministers have different ideas about how cabinet should be organized and what the different roles in cabinet mean, and how much influence they have."
Westlake says the appointment of a Saskatchewan representative as a secretary of state is the "minimum you would expect" when it comes to regional representation.
"I don't think it's necessarily what many Saskatchewan voters would have wanted," he said.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CBC
15 minutes ago
- CBC
Reforms for Nova Scotians with disabilities behind schedule
The Nova Scotia government says its five-year plan to bring about sweeping reforms in housing and care for people with disabilities is behind schedule but gaining momentum. In October 2021, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ruled that the province was systemically discriminating against people with disabilities. The government was subsequently ordered to make reforms, including to move people out of large institutions and into small homes in the community where they can live independently. However, in a progress report released today the province says only 189 people have left large institutions, a number that is about two-thirds of the goal the government had set for the spring. Scott Armstrong, the minister of social development, says there were delays in finding staff to oversee the transfers to community living, but adds that hiring programs are catching up. The department also says it has succeeded in reducing a waitlist for disabilities services by 293 people, exceeding the plan's original targets. The Disability Rights Coalition — the advocacy group that led the original court case — says the premier's office should be more directly involved in keeping the plan on track.


National Post
25 minutes ago
- National Post
Purchase and sale of all U.S.-produced alcohol resumes in Saskatchewan
The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) is set to resume the purchase of U.S.-made alcohol, walking back one of the province's tariff countermeasures announced earlier this spring. Article content In an email leaked to the Leader-Post, SLGA staff were informed on Monday afternoon that the Crown would resume the purchase and distribution of U.S.-produced alcohol, removing one of the province's planks in its response to the trade war with the United States. Article content Article content Article content The trade war started when U.S. President Donald Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods and 10 per cent on Canadian energy, which came into effect on March 4. Article content Article content On March 5, Premier Scott Moe unveiled Saskatchewan's response, which included direction to the SLGA 'to stop purchasing U.S.-produced alcohol.' The government amended that direction on March 24, providing an exemption for some 54 American brands that were at least partially made in Canada. Article content In an emailed response provided to the Leader-Post on Monday, SLGA spokesperson David Morris said the change will allow the Crown to sell off current inventories of U.S.-produced alcohol that were already paid and resume the purchase of new stock. Article content 'This change gives Saskatchewan people the option to choose whether they want to buy these products or consider alternatives,' stated Morris, adding the SLGA encourages people to buy Saskatchewan and Canadian products. Article content 'The Federal Government's 25 per cent tariff on U.S. alcohol remains in place, and this added cost is expected to be a significant factor.' Article content Article content This move comes a few days after Alberta made the same move, reversing a similar policy that was also in place as a response to U.S. tariffs. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content On June 6, the U.S. further raised tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum from 25 per cent to 50 per cent. Article content 'Just days ago, Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Saskatchewan steel,' Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck said in an emailed statement criticizing the move to resume the purchase of U.S.-produced alcohol. Article content 'Instead of standing up to Trump and protecting our workers, Scott Moe and the Sask. Party sold them out,' she said. 'This is a betrayal of Canadian workers, especially our steelworkers.' Article content


National Post
31 minutes ago
- National Post
Canada joins U.K., Australia, Norway, New Zealand in sanctioning two Israeli ministers
OTTAWA — Canada has joined the United Kingdom and other allies in announcing sanctions against two members of Israel's government who it says have incited violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. Article content The move was announced in a joint statement released this morning by Global Affairs Canada and targets National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, two far-right members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet. Article content Article content Article content 'Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights,' the statement reads. Article content Article content 'Extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous.' Article content 'It is outrageous that elected representatives and members of the government are subjected to these kind of measures,' said Sa'ar. Article content 'I discussed it earlier today with PM Netanyahu, and we will hold a special government meeting early next week to decide on our response to this unacceptable decision,' he said. Article content The countries' statement says it has raised the issue with the Israeli government, but says 'violent perpetrators continue to act with encouragement and impunity.' Article content 'This is why we have taken this action now – to hold those responsible to account. The Israeli Government must uphold its obligations under international law and we call on it to take meaningful action to end extremist, violent and expansionist rhetoric.' Article content Article content Article content