Bernard Valcourt: Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Valcourt Dept: Bernard Valcourt, who served in the Conservative cabinet of Brian Mulroney in the late 1980s and early 1990s, assumes the job with the clock ticking on a government promise to address long-standing and intractable treaty and land claim issues, according to CTV. Valcourt, 61, said in a release he accepted the full cabinet post with humility and thanked Harper for placing his confidence in me on this most important file. OTTAWA -- A veteran politician approvingly described as a street fighter by one native leader has been appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to take on the trouble-plagued Aboriginal Affairs ministry. The New Brunswick MP steps into the void left when John Duncan suddenly resigned last week after improperly writing to a tax court on behalf of a constituent. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.