New cabinet sends new signals, as political watchers take in Furey's first day

Andrew Furey's first moves as premier of Newfoundland and Labrador of rearranging cabinet, bringing in fresh faces and changing department names and priorities, are garnering a rare thing in the political world: praise.

Furey's cabinet, announced Wednesday afternoon hours after he was sworn into office as the 14th premier of the province, shifted all but two ministers out of their roles, raised up three backbenchers for the first time, and revamped departments with significant name changes. Among others, Newfoundland and Labrador now has a Department of Industry, Energy and Technology, a Department of Digital Government, and a Department of Immigration, Skills and Labour.

"This is a cabinet to build the province into the new global economy, which is something we have been in dire need of for a very long time," said Lori Lee Oates, a lecturer at Memorial University and political commentator.

Oates sees the switches as focusing on renewable energy,attracting new peopleto the province andgrowing the tech sector, the latter highlighted several times in Furey's speeches Wednesday.

One of the fresh faces to cabinet, Sarah Stoodley, in charge of digital government and Service NL, is also a highlight to Oates, who said it showed Stoodley's pregnancy doesn't detract from her breadth of experience.

• New N.L. premier, new finance minister: Andrew Furey takes office and shuffles cabinet

"There is room for expectant mothers at this cabinet table, and Ithink that sends a powerfulmessage about expectant mothers and women with young children, and the role that they are potentially going to be playing in this government," Oates told CBC Radio's Newfoundland Morning.

"Hopefully that's a sign of good things to come for young peoplewith young families who want to run for politics in this province."

No gender parity

Oates did note what a picture of the cabinet plainly shows: that only three of its 13 members are women.

Oates hopes Furey will follow up in the next election and attract female candidates forwinnable districts,but for now felt he was doing what he could with the caucus cards he was dealt, as there are only two other women in caucus at the moment, one of whom, Carol Anne Haley, already announced she's leaving politics.

"I think there's still a feeling out there that this isn't necessarily the strongest bench that we could have as a province, and that we're going to need a stronger caucus going forward to get us out of the financial mess that we're in. But Ithink he did the best he could with the caucus that he inherited," Oates said.

It certainlyis a shift in thinking from yesteryear.- Lisa Dempster

Siobhan Coady has been granted the cabinet spotlight, becoming both finance minister and deputy premier, a move that gets the approval of one longtime member, and former head, of Equal Voice NL, an organization dedicated to getting more women into politics.

"In my experience,she has no problem with heavy lifting, that's for sure. To choose her as a deputypremier is wise," said Lynn Hammond.

Coady has been in cabinet for seven years, most recently in charge of natural resources, and Hammond said past roles at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and St. John's Board of Trade will combine to help to province through the two-pronged challenge of the pandemic and a $2.1-billion deficit.

"If our province is going to come out of our fiscal crisis and face the challenges of COVID on a business level, I think that Siobhan Coady certainly has the experience and capacity to lead that," Hammond told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show.

Both Hammond and Oates lamented the loss of a sole minister assigned to the Status of Women office.But Hammond said if the minister now overseeing the area, Lisa Dempster, can bring about change, that's what really matters.

"We need far more than a symbol. We need a minister in that role who has the mandate to advocate and to really effect change for women," she said.

Triple (ministerial) threat

Dempster was handed a handful of portfolios on Wednesday, considerably upping her cabinet profile. She is now in charge of the status of women,Labrador affairs andIndigenous affairs and reconciliation.

"It is truly an honour and a privilege to be able to serve in this capacity in three portfolios near and dear to my heart, as somebody who is an Indigenous female, born and raised in Labrador," she said.

As she moves into her three offices and gets up to speed, the word "reconciliation" stands out to her as a guiding light.

"Ibelieve that it elevates a willingness and an interest, and it's right there in the title that we are here, we want to work with you," Dempster said.

"It certainlyis a shift in thinking from yesteryear."

While briefings from senior staff make up a huge part of any new minister's first few days on the job, Dempster said when it comes to Indigenous affairs, that will be consumed in combination with chats to all Indigenous leaders.

"One thing we should never do is have briefings with our senior staff, and assume that this is the direction they want us to go. You get out there, you sit at the table and you move forward together," she told CBC Radio's Labrador Morning.

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