GTA gets 3 seats at Harper cabinet table

Lisa Raitt, MP for the Ontario riding of Halton, is sworn in as the new natural resources minister, at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008.

The GTA has three members in the expanded cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority Conservative government.

Two newcomers to Parliament will join Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, MP for Whitby-Oshawa, around the cabinet table, which has grown to 38 members from 31 in the first Harper government elected in 2006:

"It's a great day. I'm really excited. I'm looking forward to serving Canadians, the province where I'm from, and my home residents in Halton as well," Raitt told reporters after she was sworn in Thursday.

Raitt, former head of the Toronto Port Authority, won election in the exurban Halton riding west of Toronto, defeating Liberal incumbent Garth Turner. She will be one of 11 women cabinet ministers.

She admitted the hard part of the job will be learning the file. "It's a vast portfolio, there's lots to learn on it," she said. Raitt will take a seat in the House of Commons on Nov. 18 when Parliament resumes.

Kent, a former broadcast journalist, deposed Liberal incumbent Susan Kadis in Thornhill.

Flaherty had been the minister with political responsibility for the GTA, but it isn't yet clear who will take on that responsibility in the new cabinet.

The Conservatives failed to elect an MP in the city of Toronto itself in the Oct. 14 federal election. The city is represented by 21 Liberal MPs and two NDP MPs -- Leader Jack Layton and his wife Olivia Chow.

There will be a total of 13 ministers from Ontario. The others:

Baird, Clement and Flaherty will also sit on the powerful planning and priorities committee.

Clement will chair the cabinet committee on economic growth and long-term prosperity. Finley is the committee's vice-chair. Baird, Flaherty and Raitt will also sit on that committee.

Flaherty will be a member of the Treasury Board, which is responsible for administrative management of government.

Nicholson and Van Loan will sit on the operations committee, which co-ordinates the government's day-to-day work in the House of Commons.

Van Loan will sit on cabinet's Afghanistan committee. Oda will be that committee's vice-chair. Van Loan, Oda, O'Connor and Kent sit on the foreign affairs and security committee, which will be vice-chaired by Nicholson.

Baird will chair the environment and energy security committee. Raitt and Goodyear will sit on that committee. Environment Minister Jim Prentice, a Calgary MP, is a member.

Finley and Guergis are members of the social affairs committee.

MPPs weigh in

Members of the provincial Liberal cabinet expressed new hope that the fresh faces in the Tory caucus will be more open to Ontario needs.

Although the newly-appointed cabinet members have only been in their posts for a few hours, their provincial counterparts are already touting their wish list for Ontario.

Health Minister David Caplan said he wants the new federal health minister, Leona Aglukkaq, to stop shortchanging the province $730 million a year in health transfers.

Meanwhile, Housing Minister Jim Watson said he hopes that Diane Finley, who replaced Monte Solberg as the minister of human resources and skills development, is more approachable than her predecessor.

Watson said he believes Finley will have a better understanding of the province's pressing needs since she is from Ontario.