The Liberal MP for Nunavut got the call, Jan. 15, from Prime Minister Jean Chretien to be parliamentary secretary to the minister of Natural Resources.

Nancy Karetak-Lindell, MP for Nunavut, looks forward to bringing a Northern perspective to the Natural Resources department. - Chris Woodall/NNSL photo

It's a mouthful, but the short and sweet of it is that Karetak-Lindell will take Minister Herb Dhaliwal's place on those occasions when he's elsewhere.

She'll represent the minister on House committees and may be called on to answer questions in the House of Commons when the minister isn't there.

For her political career, being a parliamentary secretary means getting off the backbenches and taking one step closer to becoming a full-fledged cabinet minister.

Taking on the parliamentary secretary's post does not mean ignoring the day-to-day work that comes from representing Nunavut.

"I'm quite pleased with this post. The North's future is in its natural resources," Karetak-Lindell says.

Her life before politics included consulting southern companies seeking to develop natural resources business in the North.

"The need to develop the North's natural resources is very important -- not just for the jobs, but to provide revenue for a Nunavut government too dependent on government transfers," Karetak-Lindell says.

The minister's ear

Being close to the ear of the minister means she'll have just that much more ability to provide a Northern perspective to natural resources issues.

"Just as a member for Nunavut, this is a file I'd be interested in anyway, but as a parliamentary secretary I might have more access to information to help (my constituents)," she says.

The minister is a familiar face.

"I've had chances to work with Dhaliwal before," she says. "I knew him when he was Minister of Fisheries, and we worked together as part of the (Liberal Party's) Western caucus."

All that bodes well for North of 60.

"I'm very encouraged by the minister: he has an interest in the North and is very interested in the ideas I have about the North," Nunavut's representative in Ottawa says.