Eric Melillo is keeping his role of shadow minister for FedNor, and will take on another as the deputy shadow minister for Crown Indigenous Relations.
The Kenora MP's new duties were announced along with other shadow cabinet appointments by new Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre on Wednesday.
Melillo said before the announcement, he had been hoping stay in the FedNor position.
"It’s good to know that the leader had the trust in me to continue on with this file," he said in an interview. "And of course, being in Northwestern Ontario, having that focus on Northern Ontario and ensuring the dollars FedNor spends are going where they need to go and helping support our communities and small businesses is obviously very important to me."
“So I’m happy that Pierre’s asked me to do so, and taking on the additional role as well.”
Melillo called the appointment to the Crown Indigenous Relations file a recognition of the importance of Indigenous issues to him and the region, saying that had been discussed in conversations with Poilievre during and after the leadership campaign.
“I think that just being in the Kenora riding representing 42 First Nation communities, the Metis homeland as well, obviously Indigenous issues have come up quite a bit, and those are issues I’m passionate about,” Melillo said. “I’ve worked on the Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee prior, and that’s something that has always been top of mind in my discussions.”
Melillo said he wasn’t surprised the shadow cabinet included MPs like himself, who didn’t support Poilievre for leader of the party, and even Scott Aitchison and Leslyn Lewis, who ran against him.
“With leadership races, you tend to see oftentimes a lot of the division, and there are certainly people that bring forward ideas and sometimes have passionate debate about those ideas, but at the end of the day, we’re all part of the same team,” he said.
Melillo said he has a very good relationship with fellow Northwestern Ontario MP Patty Hajdu, the minister responsible for FedNor and Indigenous Services Canada, even though they don’t agree on everything.
“It’s important that we have our critics available to hold the government accountable on those files, but also to be able to work with them collaboratively and achieve common goals and shared priorities where we can. So I think it’s great for the Northwest that we have the voice in shadow cabinet and we have... that seat at the table.”
Melillo said he's excited to get back to Ottawa to get working again, as he's currently recovering from a bout of COVID-19 at home in Kenora.
