West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky MP Pam Goldsmith-Jones should find out in a couple of weeks if she’ll continue on as a parliamentary secretary following a cabinet shuffle this week.
Goldsmith-Jones has been parliamentary secretary to the foreign affairs minister since shortly after the Liberals came to power. Stephane Dion was moved out of foreign affairs on Jan. 10 and offered a diplomatic post, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Chrystia Freeland as the new minister.
Goldsmith-Jones told Coast Reporter Wednesday that the current parliamentary secretary postings run until the end of January.
“It’s been a huge honour to serve with minister Dion, and it would be a huge honour to serve with minister Freeland as well, but that decision [which is up to the prime minister] has not been made yet.”
Goldsmith-Jones said she also thinks Freeland is a good choice.
“I think she’ll be outstanding. She has a great deal of experience in the United States. She’s fluent in Russian, and she’s distinguished herself as minister of trade,” Goldsmith-Jones said, adding that because she’ll keep the Canada-U.S. trade file in her new portfolio, Freeland will be a strong voice in the softwood lumber negotiations.
