Van Loan to take on challenge of public safety portfolio

Van Loan to take on challenge of public safety portfolio

News

By: Jay Gutteridge, Staff Writer

York-Simcoe MP Peter Van Loan will once again play a big part in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government.

Mr. Harper appointed Mr. Van Loan as minister of public safety when the cabinet for the upcoming session of Parliament was announced last week.

“It’s a big management challenge ... I’m proud to be asked to take that on,” Mr. Van Loan said.

Public safety is the the second-largest ministry in terms of personnel, behind only defence.

It encompasses the RCMP, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Canada Border Services Agency, youth crime, white collar crime and more.

Balancing border security with trade is one issue Mr. Van Loan said he plans to focus on, particularly with a new president on the way in the United States.

“The Americans place a lot of emphasis on security and some of the things they’ve done are disadvantageous to Canada,” he said, noting one of those things is requiring Canadians entering the U.S. to have a passport.

However, the new administration south of the border will provide opportunities to re-negotiate some of these issues, Mr. Van Loan said.

The U.S. government’s decision to require Canadians to have passports when entering the U.S. first came up while the Liberals were in power and seemed to take Canada by surprise, Mr. Van Loan said.

“The reason it took us by surprise, simply put, is the previous government was asleep at the switch.”

The two countries must strike a better balance between keeping goods flowing across the border and security, he said.

Helping youth at risk is another issue Mr. Van Loan said he plans to put priority on, noting the government will bring more initiatives forward to keep young people from entering a life of crime.

Working on a new portfolio is nothing new to Mr. Van Loan.

He was first appointed to cabinet as president of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, minister of intergovernmental affairs and minister for sport in November 2006.

He was named leader of the government in the House of Commons and minister for democratic reform in January 2007.

“I find with both previous roles I think in five days I was comfortable,” he said.

Mr. Van Loan said his time as government House leader will be a particular asset in learning a new portfolio.

“One of the advantages of being government House leader is you’re touching every part of government,” he said. “All the major files, regardless of department, I had to be on top of.”

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