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Q POLITICS ? Vanclief gets cabinet post Local MP named agriculture minister in. Commons today By Chris Malette With Canadian Press files Three-term Liberal MP Lyle Vanclief s rural roots now extend to the federal cabinet. Vanclief, long touted as a candi- date for agriculture minister, saw his dream come true today as he was to be sworn in to that cabinet post in a ceremony at Rideau Hall. Prime Minister Jean Chretien informed Vanclief of his promo- tion from the back benches to cab- inet Tuesday afternoon, The Intel- ligencer learned last evening, and Vanclief and wife Sharon left shortly afterward for Ottawa and Vanclief s apartment there. He was to be sworn in this morning and had declined com- ment on the a p p o i n t m e n t until after the Rideau Hall cere- mony, which was scheduled for 11 a.m. Vanclief, 53, was born and raised on his family's farm in Prince Edward County. He oper- ated Willowlee Farms Ltd., a have to enlarge cabinet beyond its current 34 members to make room for any more -- a distinct possibili- ty despite his oft-stated preference for leaner government. "A couple more in cabinet wouldn't be the end of the world," said one strategist. "You've got a lot of talent on the backbenches and you want to sig- nal that it's possible to move up." Chretien is also poised to move Sheila Copps out of the deputy prime minister's job, reassign other key ministers and spruce up his cabinet with some other new faces from the backbenches in a shuffle today. Sources say Copps will keep her Heritage portfolio, which includes responsibility for arts policy and cultural industries and also gives her a say in the federal unity effort in Quebec. But she will relinquish the title of deputy prime minister to Herb Gray, a veteran considered more adept at broker- ing policy dis- putes among ministers and handling day-to- day operations. 'They want him to be a kind of chief execu- tive officer," one insider said of Gray's assign- ment. 1,600 acre fruit, vegetable and livestock opera- tion, until 1988 when the farm- ing firm went out of business. That year, Vanclief was first elected to P a r l i a m e n t , reverting the Prince Edward- Hastings seat to Liberal from the long-held Conser- vative seat held by Jack Ellis. V a n c l i e f r e p l a c e s Saskatchewan MP Ralph Goodale, a lawyer, in the ag minister's port- folio. Goodale has earned the scorn of western farmers for his decisions on the wheat board, but reports from Ottawa say it's expected Goodale will retain responsibility in his natural resources min- istry for the wheat board. V a n c l i e f served as parliamentary assistant to Goodale for three years and has been chairman of the parliamen- tary standing committee on agri- culture and was co-critic for agri- culture when Liberals were in Opposition after the 1988 election. During his tenure as the stand- ing committee chairman, Vanclief earned kudos from senior federal officials for his globe-spanning work on the G ATT treaties and their impact on Canadian agricul- ture and agri-food industries. Meanwhile, sources in Ottawa said today Chretien would likely G Lyle Vanclief, 53, was an easy win- ner June 2 for third term as Liberal MP for Prince Edward-Hastings. G Born and raised on Prince Edward County farm where he now lives. G Graduate of Belleville Collegiate Institute and B.Sc. from University of Guelph in agriculture in 1966. G Until 1988, Vanclief's family owned and operated 1,600-acre Willowlee Farms Ltd., a fruit, vegetable and live- stock operation. G Has served as municipal councillor in Ameliasburgh and was past chair- man of the township planning board for a number of years. Q Served 10 years on the Prince Edward County Board of Education as chairman, chairman of the salary negotiating committee. G Five years on the Loyalist College Manpower Retraining Program as a director. G Elected MP in 1988, he was re-elect- ed in 1993 and has served as chair- man of the standing committee on agriculture (1996) and Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Agriculture Ralph Goodale. Has also held posi- tions of co-critic for agriculture and as associate critic for public works while in Opposition. Copps, whose aggressive style grated on some colleagues, has held the deputy's job since the Liber- als took power in 1993. But those close to her say she will not be sorry to give it up. Don Boudria, a former whip and junior min- ister for interna- tional affairs, is to take over Gray's old job as House leader -- a key one in a Par- liament where the Liberr.1 majority is thin- ner than it was before the June 2 election. In addition to Copps, several key ministers are moving. Both CBC- TV's The National and CTV News reported Tues- day that Allan Rock gets the Health posting and is being replaced at Justice by Anne McLellan, a former University of Alberta law professor who „ did well at Natural Resources. The CBC and CTV said John Manley, stays at Industry, while Victoria's David Anderson heads to Fisheries but it wasn't clear where the former fisheries minis- ter, Fred Mifflin, is headed. Paul Martin, who like Rock has leadership ambitions, is to contin- ue at Finance and Lloyd Axwor- thy, the senior minister from the West, is to stay at Foreign Affairs. _