I was not surprised at being asked to serve at that level because I am one of the most senior persons in Parliament. I have held several posts in the government before and I believe that I have done a good job.

If you listen to the prime minister, you will understand from her utterances that the areas related to poverty alleviation are very high on her agenda and I believe that this will be among the things that she would want to focus on.

I will have to meet with the officials in the ministry and to take direction from the prime minister to see what she wants to be her focus. It is not my focus; it is what her focus is and that of the entire Cabinet.

I feel satisfied, it has been a long haul. I have been in Parliament since 1989.

I am not campaigning for any candidate but I will be voting.

I want you to begin keeping a calendar of who you see and when: the first day each year you see buttercups, the first day frogs start singing, the last day you see robins in the fall, the first day for grasshoppers. In short, I want you to pay attention.