On the heels of the Canadian federal election held earlier this month, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has reshuffled his cabinet, placing Gail Shea, the newly elected MP for Egmont, PEI as the new Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. Shea is the first PEI Conservative member to be federally elected in two decades.

Peter MacKay, MP for Central Nova, NS remains at his position as Minister of Defence and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

Time will tell whether this appointment will result in a greater federal exposure for Prince Edward Island and the east coast in particular. For the time being, comments on the CBC News website seem generally positive (a few seem to come from Shea family members), and PEI Premier Robert Ghiz has been quoted earlier as stating such an appointment would help Ottawa "look out for the interests of Islanders".