Michael McLeod, N.W.T.'s MP-elect, wants a cabinet seat
'My priority is to see us have somebody in the cabinet that will be from the North'
Michael McLeod, the N.W.T.'s Liberal MP-elect, says he's looking forward to joining Justin Trudeau's Liberal government, especially if he can get a seat on cabinet.
"My priority is to see us have somebody in the cabinet that will be from the North," McLeod said on The Trailbreaker this morning, adding that he assumes Trudeau will select at least one of the North's three Liberal MPs for his cabinet.
"Of course I want to be the one," McLeod said, though several observers, including the CBC's Alison Crawford, have pointed to Hunter Tootoo, the Liberal MP-elect for Nunavut, as the more likely choice.
"I want to be involved in a serious fashion," McLeod went on. "I would be very happy to champion other issues outside of being a minister, issues that affect the North, issues that affect communities in the North, or aboriginal people."
McLeod holds some strong governing credentials.
He served three terms as an MLA in the N.W.T. legislature between 1999 and 2011, and held a number of cabinet portfolios, most recently public works and services and transportation.
McLeod said his other main priority is to rebuild trust between First Nations and the federal government.
"That relationship has been seriously damaged," he said. "We have to work as partners, and if we're going to work as partners, we have to up the trust factor."
He said the territorial government has been working hard, while the Harper government "stood with its back to the wall."