Paris, Estabrooks among new NDP cabinet minister appointees

PROVINCIAL POLITICS
By Yvette d'Entremont - The Weekly News
When newly-elected Premier Darrell Dexter named his trim 12-member cabinet on June 19, two local faces were in the inner circle.
Percy Paris, MLA for Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank, became Nova Scotia's second African Nova Scotian cabinet minister when he became part of the new government's cabinet following last week's swearing-in ceremony. The first was Liberal MLA for Preston, Wayne Adams, who was elected in 1993.
Paris now holds the positions of minister of Economic and Rural Development, Tourism, Culture and Heritage, African Nova Scotian Affairs and the minister responsible for Nova Scotia Business Inc.
"I was pleasantly surprised ... I'm excited about all of these positions," Paris said last weekend. "With economic and rural development, we're in a recession and it's a commitment for our government to create job opportunities in Nova Scotia and to keep the economic lines running throughout the province."
"Beefing up" the tourism industry is another challenge Paris hopes to tackle head on, particularly given the industry's struggle in recent times.
Paris said Nova Scotia Business Inc. is another post he'll enjoy, given his business and education background.
"Nova Scotia Business Inc. has provided some valuable assistance to large and small companies across the province," Paris said. "I think there are some real exciting opportunities that will come up for Nova Scotia in the next three to four years and it's exciting to be a part of that."
As minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs, Paris said he'll have yet another full slate.
"It's another challenge just with all the talk around Africville, The Black Report, what's going on at high schools, so there's enough going on there to make life very, very busy," he said.
In Timberlea-Prospect, MLA Bill Estabrooks was very pleased with his new cabinet positions. In addition to holding the title of minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal, minister of Energy, and minister responsible for Conserve Nova Scotia, Estabrooks is minister responsible for the Gateway Initiative and the minister of Sydney Tar Ponds Agency.
"Today was a different day for me for a Saturday. I'm usually in sweat pants, shirt and a ball hat," Estabrooks joked the day after his June 19 appointment. "This time I had a business meeting in Halifax that I had to go to and missed a (community) soccer game. These sorts of things will all be juggled."
A long-time supporter of Dexter, Estabrooks said he was humbled when asked to serve as a cabinet minister in Nova Scotia's first NDP government.
"There's going to be a very big workload and a small cabinet, and we all have to do some heavy lifting," Estabrooks said.
With a post as daunting as transportation and infrastructure renewal, Estabrooks said he expected the hard work to start immediately, which it did.
"As I came off the stage (June 19), (Liberal Leader) Stephen McNeil said he wanted to talk to me about a road on Monday. So I said we'll sit down and talk about it," Estabrooks said. "I want to hear about concerns from MLAs of all political stripes. There are a lot of roads in pretty rough shape across the province and I don't want to just have a patchwork quilt of road projects. There has to be some plan to it."
Constituents in Estabrooks's riding were happy with his new responsibilities, especially his transportation post.
"I've had constituents dropping by, stopping, waving, honking horns, asking why I'm dressed up on a Saturday," he said.
"No sweats or T-shirt. Someone said 'Now you're a big wheel.' Now the work begins."
ydentremont@hfxnews.ca