Cabinet shakeup introduces new health minister

Goodbye, Tony Clement. Hello, Leona Aglukkaq.

Ms Aglukkaq (right), an Inuit woman from Nunavut and rookie Member of Parliament, has been named the new federal health minister. She takes over for Tony Clement, who becomes industry minister.

Ms Aglukkaq was minister of health of Nunavut until last month when she resigned from the territorial legislature to become the Conservative Party's candidate for Nunavut's one federal riding. She narrowly defeated the Liberal and NDP candidates, successfully flipping the riding from red to blue.

First as Nunavut's finance minister, then later as health minister, Ms Aglukkaq, a long-time government employee, was a frequent target of criticism from opposition members in the Nunavut legislature.

The territory's health system struggled at times over the last few years, prompting speculation at times that Ms Aglukkaq would be removed from her post.

Under her watch, the province's only major hospital at the time, Baffin Regional Hospital, in Iqaluit, lost its voluntary accreditation from the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation (now called Accreditation Canada) in 2006 for the first time since it was first accredited in the early 90s. The hospital was found to have too few nurses and housekeepers and out-of-date information and risk management systems. The government admitted at the time that the loss of accreditation might threaten clinical placements for students and residents, but injected new money into the hospital to fund 26 positions.

Ms Aglukkaq faced criticism in the legislature for referring to the loss of accreditation as a "hiccup" in healthcare governance. According to an article in the local newspaper, Nunatsiaq News, Ms Aglukkaq's "demanding" leadership style came under fire, too. Her deputy minister and two other senior staffers resigned while she was health minister. The deputy minister, Bernie Blais, left after a disagreement about a proposal to airlift some patients to Winnipeg, which Ms Aglukkaq did not favour.

In June 2006, Hunter Tootoo, a fellow territorial legislator, proposed a motion of non-confidence in Ms Aglukkaq, but it was not seconded.

Last year, Ms Aglukkaq oversaw the opening of the new Qikiqtani General Hospital, in Iqaluit, to replace Baffin Regional Hospital as the main medical centre for inpatient services.

This past March, however, Qikiqtani General suffered an operating-room nurse staffing shortage and had to be bailed out for nine days by the Canadian Forces, which sent a military nurse to fill in. A military physician had to briefly do the same thing in 2007.

Last week, I speculated on Ms Aglukkaq as a potential replacement for Mr Clement as health minister, but I dismissed the idea, writing, "a more experienced hand is likely required to guide Health Canada." I admit it: I was wrong.

Mr Clement's exit from the healthcare portfolio is what he has been rumoured to have wanted for some time now. When I spoke to him earlier this year, he called the job of health minister a "very difficult, complex portfolio that has been the frequent graveyard of political aspirations in the past." Mr Clement, however, has managed to emerge relatively unscathed after over two years at the helm of Health Canada, even earning what is perceived as a promotion within cabinet to take on the country's industrial management. Perhaps his political success after a tenancy in the health ministry will change the way future health ministers look at their job prospects.

In other health-related cabinet news, Steven Fletcher, who had been the parliamentary secretary for health, becomes the new minister of state for democratic reform.

For the rest of the cabinet changes, consult the Prime Minister's announcement in full (PDF).

Update, October 31: How are Canadians reacting to the appointment of Ms Aglukkaq? Read about the reactions from Ottawa here, and from one individual MD here.

Photo: Leona Aglukkaq

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