Representatives of the film and TV industry greeted the appointment of Joseé Verner as minister of Canadian Heritage with hope that the newly promoted MP from Louis-Saint-Laurent will do more on their behalf in Ottawa, though some doubt that culture issues will ever catch on with the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Verner was named to the post during a cabinet shuffle on Tuesday. She takes over for Bev Oda, who is now the minister of international cooperation.

Verner was previously a junior minister responsible for affairs with other francophone nations, official languages and international co-operation and, as the official face of international aid organization CIDA, was often called upon to defend Canada’s aid efforts in Afghanistan.

Canada’s largest French-language actors union, the Union des artistes, says Verner needs to work harder than Oda against the ongoing erosion of policies to protect culture by the Harper government.

‘To date, we really haven’t seen any leadership about anything — on the CTF crisis or the financing of Canadian cinema. What we’ve seen at the CRTC is really a push towards deregulation and free enterprise and that’s scary for us,’ says UDA director of public affairs Anne-Marie Des Roches.

But Des Roches remains cautiously optimistic about Verner, who appears to be an unknown quantity in Quebec cultural circles. ‘She at least knows the francophone milieu. She comes from Quebec City. It’s difficult to live in Quebec and not be preoccupied by cultural issues,’ says Des Roches. ‘But she has to convince the government that it’s worthwhile to invest in culture. That’s where the challenge is.’

Quebec filmmaker Rock Demers (Tales for All) believes Verner’s appointment is an attempt to build bridges with Quebec. ‘But I don’t think it will change much, because she’s such an unknown. She doesn’t have any status in cultural circles.’

While Demers is pleased Verner is a francophone, he believes Oda’s principal problem wasn’t her limited French, it was her lack of clout. ‘I think Bev Oda understood many cultural issues, but she didn’t have any power within the PMO.’

Liberal heritage critic Tina Keeper isn’t impressed with Harper’s cabinet shuffle and echoes Demers’ sentiments.

‘My sense has always been that the Heritage file is under the direction of the PMO. I don’t think they are investing in the portfolio. I think they are just trying to demonstrate they are committed to Quebec. They are still trying to figure out how to get a majority,’ she says.

ACTRA is calling on Verner to take immediate action to fix the drama crisis in Canadian television and to protect Canadian cultural industries. ‘Minister Verner must make it clear to the CRTC that private broadcasters must be required to show real Canadian programming on Canadian airwaves. We are being inundated with U.S. production,’ said Richard Hardacre, ACTRA national president, in a statement. ACTRA wants the CRTC to reverse its 1999 Television Policy changes that it believes led to the collapse of Canadian programming.

Also in the cabinet shuffle: Maxime Bernier is moving to Foreign Affairs from Industry, replaced by Jim Prentice, who comes over from Indian Affairs.