Dominic LeBlanc shuns 'part-time' label, talks of future legacy as fisheries minister

Dominic LeBlanc spoke Wednesday about the legacy he hopes to leave as fisheries minister, a signal his appointment may not be as short-term as some of his critics have suggested.

LeBlanc, who also works as government house leader, wasappointment asminister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard in a surprise announcementcame last week,after the abrupt resignation of HunterTootoo.

Tootoo resigned from cabinet and left the Liberal caucus to seek treatment for addiction issues, after what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said was a "very difficult situation."

• Trudeau saysTootoo resigned after 'very difficult situation'
• Hunter Tootoo suddenly resigns from Liberal cabinet

"As some of you know, I have been on this job now for eight days," LeBlanc said in his opening remarks at the launch of a national summit in Ottawa to mark World Oceans Day.

He said that he hopes 40 years from now, "the legacy for me is defined by the work that I can do with all of you on protecting and preserving our oceans, the ecosystems in our oceans, and leaving a legacy and a footprint that would inspire the people in this room and those whom you represent."

LeBlanc went on to announce the Liberal government's planto meetmarine protection targets, as Shell Canada hands over30 offshore exploration permits in the Eastern Arctic.

LeBlanc mocks himself as Fisheries Minister

8 years ago

Duration 2:11

During a speech on World Oceans Day, newly minted Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Dominic LeBlanc pokes fun at his recent appointment as Minister, and looks back at his father who held the same post under Pierre Trudeau.

He told the crowd that the opposition accused him the day before of being a "part-time minister" something Trudeau had a bit of fun with, LeBlanc said.

"The prime minister teased me. He said he thought I was doing the House leader's job part-time, so he could imagine how bad it'll be now,"LeBlancjoked.

"But I am, joking aside, being brought up to date and reading and thinking a lot about key issues facing not only my department but our government and our country."

Conflict of interest?

Conservative MP Mark Strahlon accused Trudeau Tuesday of putting LeBlanc in a conflict of interest, given the minister's personal ties to New Brunswick's powerful Irving family.

"They have numerous fisheries interests in Atlantic Canada, and Irving Shipyards is a key supplier to the Canadian Coast Guard,"Strahl said during question period the day before."Why did the prime minister put his part-time minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard into a full-time conflict of interest?"

Federal ethics commissioner Mary Dawson told LeBlancearlier this yearhe would have to avoid taking part in any decisions involving the Irvings.

On Tuesday, LeBlanc said he consulted with Dawson again "within hours" of being appointed to the fisheries ministry.

"I proactively reached out to the Ethics Commissioner. I asked for her advice as to what measures could be put in place to ensure that there is no conflict of interest, nor will there be an appearance of a conflict of interest, and I will be following her advice at every moment as I always have," LeBlanc said.

LeBlancfollows infather's footsteps

LeBlanc'ssaidit was "a humbling moment" when the prime minister asked him to take over the fisheries ministry.

"I was humbled but also excited by the opportunity it presents me to follow in the footsteps of my father, who held not an identicaljob but a similar job over 30 years ago,"LeBlancsaidat the Canada's Ocean Summit on Wednesday.

LeBlanc'sfather,RomoLeBlanc, died in 2009 following a lengthy illness. He had been a longtime Liberal MP, cabinet minister and then senator before being named Canada's25thgovernor general.

He was appointedminister of fisheries and oceans by then-prime minister Pierre ElliottTrudeau in 1979, just before the the Liberals were defeated by Joe Clark in an election. LeBlancresumed his post when the Liberals returned to power in 1980, serving as fisheries minister until September, 1982.

"In fact, my father was the first minister of fisheries and oceans, having convinced the then-prime minister to add 'oceans' to the fisheries mandate, and he was sworn in to that portfolio in 1979," the Liberal MP forBeausjour, N.B.,said in Ottawa on Wednesday.

The Liberals have remainedtight-lipped about the "very difficult situation" that led to Tootoo's exit from the Liberal cabinet and party caucus.