Liberal Leader Stephane Dion will make Michael Ignatieff chair of a shadow cabinet committee on foreign policy, CTV News has learned. Ignatieff was one of the front-runners during the Liberal leadership race and the only contender remaining with Dion on the final ballot. Dion has already made him the party's deputy house leader. Dion plans to officially announce his shadow cabinet Thursday, but CTV's Robert Fife has reported that Ralph Goodale will remain as the house leader. Goodale had supported Bob Rae during the race but moved to Dion's camp after the former Ontario NDP premier dropped out. "He supported the Liberals, so why would it be a problem?'' Dion told reporters Saturday. "I'm very pleased to say that we have a very united party, we have a dream team.'' Scott Brison, who finished the race in sixth place, will be handed the industry portfolio, "a pretty big portfolio job," Fife told Newsnet. John Godfrey will be replaced by David McGuinty as the environment critic, and become chair of a committee on environmental policy. Joe Volpe, who had trailed far behind the frontrunners during the race, will get the position of transport critic.
Rae, a major frontrunner alongside Ignatieff, is working on the party's Red Book. Gerard Kennedy, the perceived kingmaker in the race, is looking at election readiness. Both have suggested they'll run for parliament in the next election. Meanwhile, Kennedy's supporters are getting rewarded because of Kennedy's crucial support for Dion. "Key Kennedy people like Navdeep Singh Bains and Omar Alghabra are getting very important jobs," said Fife. "Trade is going Navdeep and immigration to Omar."
Meanwhile, John McCallum will remain in his position as finance critic, and it's likely that Bill Graham could stay as the foreign affairs critic. Other shadow cabinet positions will include: Bonnie Brown : health critic/ Denis Coderre: defence critic/ Ujjal Dosanjh: moves from defence critic to natural resources portfolio
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