News Release

From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)

---

PRIME MINISTER APPOINTS PETER VAN LOAN TO CABINET

November 27, 2006
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced that he has accepted the resignation of the Honourable Michael Chong from the Cabinet.

The Honourable Peter Van Loan has been sworn in as a Privy Councillor and appointed the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, and Minister for Sport.

The Prime Minister thanked Mr. Chong for serving in his Cabinet.

Biographical notes follow.

* * * *

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

The Honourable Peter Van Loan

President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister for Sport

York - Simcoe (Ontario)

Peter Van Loan was elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2006. In February 2006, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In July 2004, he was appointed Critic for Human Resources and Skills Development and was member of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills Development, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities. Mr. Van Loan was also a member of the Subcommittee on Employment Insurance Funds.

He has developed a wealth of diverse experience through involvement in the community, in his professional life as a lawyer and in the academic world. He has been a community leader, serving as member of the Georgina Economic Development Committee, a former executive member of the Canadian Bar Association - Ontario, Municipal Section, and a member of the Ontario Brownfields Advisory Panel.

Professionally, he has been a partner and chair of the Planning and Development Law Group at the national law firm Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP. He has also been an adjunct professor of planning at the University of Toronto. He obtained a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School, a Masters of Science in planning, and a Master of Arts in international relations at the University of Toronto.

---

The Prime Minister’s Office - Communications
[Note: You are receiving this e-mail for information only, and because you have subscribed to our distribution list. To modify your subscription or to have your name removed from the list, go to: (http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/subscribe.asp?login)]