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May 14, 2025 - Kram Decries Liberal Cabinet Tokenism Michael Kram, MP for Regina-Wascana acknowledged the appointment yesterday of Buckley Belanger to the new Carney cabinet as both as positive and a negative sign. “I want to congratulate Mr. Belanger on his appointment as Secretary of State for Rural Development. I am confident that Mr. Belanger will draw from his provincial cabinet experience to try to do his best in this role. It’s also worth noting that, at least, his portfolio has some relevance to Saskatchewan,” Kram said. “Nonetheless, there is a distinct sense of tokenism that comes with this appointment. Not to put too fine a point on it, Saskatchewan is now the only province without a full cabinet minister. Although Mr. Belanger is technically a cabinet minister, Mr. Belanger will never sit at the cabinet table. He will never have regular access to the Prime Minister. He will be able to speak to his cabinet colleagues only when invited to do so about his specific portfolio. He is not in a strong position to advocate for Saskatchewan, which is regrettable.” “In light of the ongoing trade wars with the US and China, the Conservative Party is committed to working cooperatively with MPs from all parties. However, that cooperation must be a two-way street. This is still a minority government. It is still the case that more Canadians voted against the Liberals than for them.” “This election also highlighted the strong regional divide in this country and only made worse the dissatisfaction felt by many people in Western Canada. The onus is on the Liberal government to heal those wounds and earn the trust of people in the West. Handing out secretary of state positions as a consolation prize seems very much like a half-measure and is a missed opportunity by Mark Carney to signal his intent to deal fairly with Saskatchewan,” Kram said.