Brian Gallant's new Celtic affairs cabinet post blasted as 'bizarre'

New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant's decision to add a Celtic affairs minister to his cabinet has been described as "bizarre" and "laughable" by critics.

The Liberal premier shuffled his cabinet on Monday, adding two backbenchers to hisinner circle, including Lisa Harris, who will take on the dual rule of minister of seniors and long-term care and minister responsible for Celtic affairs. The move is thought by some to be an attempt to pander to cultural groups.

Gallant said on Monday the new positionwill allow "a co-ordinated approach" to funding Irish, Scottish and Welsh festivals.

"If he thinks that the people of New Brunswick and anglophonesin particular are that naive to buy that hook, line and sinkerhe's way off base," Mario Levesque, a Mount Allison political scientist, told Information Morning Moncton. He went on to say the decision was "just bizarre."

Green Party Leader David Coon has suggested the premier is trying to placate New Brunswickers who oppose bilingualism and duality.

• Cabinet shuffle adds 2 new faces and moves all but 2 members

Information Morning - Moncton16:41NB cabinet shuffle

Mario Levesque is a professor of political science at Mount Allison University in Sackville. Moncton South MLA Cathy Rogers is New Brunswick's new finance minister

Steve Tweedie, thepast president of the Greater Moncton Scottish Association and chair of the Moncton Highland Games, saidthe move reflects the ethnicity in New Brunswick with more than 30 per cent of the population claiming Scottish heritage.

He said whenthe number of people living in the province with Scottish,Irish orWelsh backgrounds is added together, it totals likely half of the population.

This right here is just a red herring, no one is going buy it, it's just going to be egg on theGallant government'sface.- Mario Levesque, political scientist

"Celtic peoples in the past have always been lumped in with Englishbut that doesn't cut it when it comes to our heritage," Tweedie said.

"Even though the Acadians in this province identify separately, you've got to look at some of the names up the north shore, like McIntyre, McLaughlin, McGraw, McPhee, Martintheyall have Celtic backgrounds because a lot of the Irish andScottish immigrants to this province married French immigrants here as well."

Tweediesaid hehopes adding a Celtic portfolio will give people and events, such as the Moncton Highland Games, morerecognition and representation.

"There are a lot of things that go on that tend to make some of us feel that we've been forgotten about and I think this provides the opportunity to bring those things back to the spotlight," hesaid.

"The prominence of these events seems to be dropping off and we need to recognize the number of people that share a Celtic background and ensure that people don't forget that heritage."

MelyndaJarratt,aFredericton resident who supports the decision,said the move to give people with Celtic heritage more prominence is a good one.

"Yes, it is a bold move to establish a Celtic affairs portfolio and one that may seem unexpected, but it is something that is long overdue and I am glad to see that it has finally happened," she said.

Immigration minister needed

Levesque said his reaction to the additional cabinet responsibility is not intended to minimize anyone's heritage.

"The thing is, whenever you appoint a minister for a designated population, it's usually a minority population," he explained

"Anglophones are not under threat of their culture or anything else right now so it's quite the opposite, so from that perspective this is totally off."

Levesque saidthe move will not do anything to defuse language tensions in the province.

"This is just a facadeBrian Gallant is breaking new ground here but not in a good way," he said.

The political scientist suggests that ifGallant wanted to add a new position it should have been a minister of immigration.

"What would have been more appropriate would be to have a minister of immigration, for example for New Brunswickthat's a more pressing issue right there," he said.

"This right here is just a red herring, no one is going buy it, it's just going to be egg on theGallant government'sface."