PM Appoints Three African Canadian MPs As Parliamentary Secretaries

Photo above is of Grenada-born Caesar-Chavannes.

By Michael Van Cooten
PRIDE Publisher/Editor

OTTAWA, Ontario — Last Wednesday, Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, appointed 35 Parliamentary Secretaries, including three African Canadians — Whitby Member of Parliament, Celina Caesar-Chavannes; Emmanuel Dubourg, MP for Bourassa, Quebec; and Greg Fergus, MP for Hull-Aylmer, Quebec.

“These highly motivated individuals, who come from a variety of backgrounds and communities across our great country, bring a wealth of talent and experience to the table that will complement existing Cabinet strengths,” said Mr. Trudeau, adding, “Each Minister has been assigned a parliamentary secretary to work hand-in-hand with them. Additionally, we will be introducing legislation to formalize the equal status of our ministerial team sitting around the Cabinet table.”

Caesar-Chavannes becomes the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, DuBourg is now the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue and Greg Fergus has been appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.

Grenada-born Caesar-Chavannes, a well-known research consultant and successful entrepreneur, was the recipient of both the Toronto Board of Trade’s Business Entrepreneur of the Year for 2012 and the 2007 Black Business and Professional Association’s Harry Jerome Young Entrepreneur Award.

An international lecturer on the inclusion of marginalized populations in clinical research, Caesar-Chavannes has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto, an MBA in Healthcare Management from the University of Phoenix, and is an Executive MBA candidate at the Rotman School of Management.

She is a past member of the Governing Council of the University of Toronto, and also served as member of the Institutional Advisory Board of the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction, part of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

A member of the Congress of Black Women, Caesar-Chavannes, who has deep roots in Whitby, where she lives with her husband and three children, has worked with a variety of private, government and non-government organizations.

Born in Haiti, in 1958, Dubourg emigrated to Quebec in 1974, obtained an Executive MBA from UQAM and completed a “triple play”—becoming a Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Certified General Accountant, and a member of the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec (CA).

Dubourg began his professional career in 1985 as auditor in one of the largest Canadian accounting firms, after which he embarked on a 20-year career in the federal public service, notably as leader of the team assembled to help uncover the underground economy. This was followed by his appointment as advisor to the Canadian Revenue Agency Assistant Commissioner.

While pursuing his public service career, Dubourg taught at the college and post-secondary levels and acted as a consultant internationally in accounting and finance. He also taught taxation and accounting at UQAM and Université du Québec en Outaouais and co-founded CPA-Without-Borders in 2012.

Dubourg — the father of two children, Edwin-Simon and David — was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec for Viau in 2007, then served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity and Minister of Finance, respectively.

Re-elected as an MNA in 2008 and 2012, he was elected to Parliament in November 2013 and served as critic for National Revenue and Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions.

Fergus, who holds two bachelor’s degrees—one from the University of Ottawa in social science and the other from Carleton University in international relations — has worked as a senior policy advisor in a number of ministerial offices.

Over the past 25 years, he has worked in both the private and public sectors, with not-for-profit organizations and in the academic sector.

Fergus readily gets involved in his community. He was a board member of a seniors residence, a parish council, neighbourhood associations, and school committees.  He also sat on citizens’ committees with the City of Gatineau, coached community sports teams, advised youth-at-risk organizations and served on the boards of organizations defending regional interests in the Outaouais.

A former Toronto city councillor, Adam Vaughan, who was first elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Trinity-Spadina on June 30, 2014, was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister (Intergovernmental Affairs). As an activist and a journalist, Vaughan has played a significant role in the social and economic growth of Toronto.

Former Toronto Police Service Chief, William Blair, was also appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. He served as President of both the Ontario and Canadian Associations of Chiefs of Police, receiving the distinction of Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces.

The other Parliamentary Secretaries appointed were: Peter Schiefke — Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister (Youth); Michel Picard — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness; Jean-Claude Poissant — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food; Pamela Goldsmith-Jones — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs; Omar Alghabra — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Consular Affairs); Arif Virani — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship; Yvonne Jones — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs; Joyce Murray — Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board; Kevin Lamoureux — Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons; Terry Beech — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Science; Gudie Hutchings — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Small Business and Tourism; François-Philippe Champagne — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance; Sean Casey — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada; Leona Alleslev — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement; David Lametti — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade; Kamal Khera — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health; Terry Duguid — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development; Kate Young — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport; Karina Gould — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development; Kim Rudd — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources; Randy Boissonnault — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage; Stéphane Lauzon — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities; Anju Dhillon — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Status of Women; Karen McCrimmon — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence; Jonathan Wilkinson — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change; The Honourable John McKay — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence; Rodger Cuzner — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour; Pablo Rodriguez — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities; Mark Holland — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Democratic Institutions; and Serge Cormier — Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.

Ginette Petitpas Taylor, was appointed as Deputy Government Whip, and Arnold Chan, as Deputy Government House Leader.

“Our extraordinary team of Canadians will work tirelessly to honour the trust Canadians have given us. Together, we will build an even better future for our children and grandchildren,” said Mr. Trudeau.