Prime Minister Stephen Harper: Bernard Valcourt

John Duncan Dept: 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, according to Winnipeg Free Press. 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 and adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press ARCHIVES Bernard Valcourt, in a media scrum two years ago, is the new minister of Aboriginal Affairs, replacing John Duncan, who resigned last week as head of the department. 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. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.