The appointment of media savvy, bilingual and former Alliance MP James Moore, 32, as the minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages may signal the Conservatives are ready to take culture seriously, say key players in the film and television sector.

‘This is very good. He enjoys the trust of the Prime Minister,’ said Brian Anthony, the head of the Director’s Guild of Canada, following news of the appointment on Thursday.

‘He’s got everything we need in a minister. He’s young and bilingual. And anyone from B.C. understands the importance of the film and television industry. It bodes well,’ Anthony told Playback Daily, adding that he’s met Moore previously at informal social gatherings.

CFTPA president Guy Mayson describes Moore as a ‘credible voice’ for the industry at the cabinet table, saying he’s ‘distinguished himself as one of the best and the brightest. I think this is a positive signal to the industry.’

Moore, MP for the riding of Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam in B.C., follows Joseé Verner and her predecessor Bev Oda to the post. Both were viewed as ineffectual and powerless by many in the film and TV community. Verner was shuffled to intergovernmental affairs on Thursday as Prime Minister Stephen Harper named his new, post-election cabinet.

There are concerns, however that the B.C. politician will spend his time working on the Winter Olympics, set for Vancouver in 2010. The appointment of Verner, who represents the riding of Louis-Saint-Laurent, to the job was largely seen as an effort by Harper to prepare for the celebration of Quebec City’s 400th anniversary.

‘We hope he’s not just interested in the Olympic file,’ said the spokesman for Quebec’s largest actors union, the Union des artistes, Raymond Legault. ‘We have to get to know him. We want to establish a dialogue about arts and culture.’

Further, his much-touted broadcasting experience apparently consists of a stint doing campus radio and a job with CKST AM 1040, an all-sports radio station in Vancouver.

Moore was frequently on TV in his capacity as the Secretary of State for the 2010 Olympics and appears to have the support of his boss; he’s one of the few MPs Harper lets loose in front of the cameras.

During the controversy caused by the recent cuts to culture programs, Moore was a passionate defender of the government, arguing that the Tories had actually increased arts and culture spending.

Moore told CBC’s Peter Mansbridge that the Conservatives were spending more on culture than ‘any other government’ in his lifetime. The Globe and Mail later reported that the Conservatives were, in fact, spending less on arts and culture because they were shifting funds to other Heritage departments such as sport.

Moore was also the spokesman for the government during the high-profile Chuck Cadman affair.

But the young MP does appear to be a somewhat independent thinker; he was the only B.C. MP to break with his party and vote for a Liberal law allowing same-sex marriage.

Moore first began working for the Reform Party at 17. First elected at 24, he has been sitting in the House of Commons for four terms and has a BA in political science from the University of Northern B.C.

In 2005, Vancouver Sun columnist Barbra Yaffe spotted Moore as a rising star, suggesting him as a replacement for Harper, who at the time didn’t appear to have the charisma to get his party elected. Yaffe described Moore as ‘likeable, unflappable, and smart’ and a pragmatist rather than an ideologue who spoke good Quebecois French.

The UDA’s Legault says he’s not concerned about the new heritage minister’s language skills. ‘If he can understand French, that’s fine with me. As long as he’s sensitive to culture,’ he says.

Legault and the DGC’s Anthony have both requested meetings with Moore to discuss the future of the Canadian Television Fund and copyright, among other issues.

Anthony believes Moore will be a more activist minister than Verner or Oda. ‘We need someone who won’t just mind the shop but will get out there and push some ideas.’

Liberal heritage critic Denis Coderre was not available to comment for this article.