The announcement that Ontario’s Conservative government had appointed Dr. Jane Philpott, former federal Liberal cabinet minister, to head a team mandated to connect all Ontarians to a primary care provider caught the attention of this Albertan. When our Conservative premier assumed office, one of her first actions was to fire our highly-regarded Chief medial Officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw. This was her first step in a major disassembling of out health care system.

It is, therefore, a nice contrast to see a Conservative government show respect for a highly-regarded health professional. It is also a pleasant change to see politicians from different parties collaborate.

Unfortunately Dr. Philpott’s association with politicians has not always gone well. She was elected as a Liberal MP in Justin Trudeau’s sweep of 2015 and appointed Minister of Health, the first medical doctor to hold the post. She served on various committees, including the one tasked with settling the 25,000 Syrian refugees sponsored by the government, and managed a number of challenging issues such as legalizing marijuana, physician-assisted dying, safe injection sites, renegotiation of the Canada Health Accord with the provinces and a variety of Indigenous health care issues.

Subsequent to her time at Health she became Minister of Indigenous Services and then President of the Treasury Board. She was generally regarded as one of the cabinet’s top ministers.

Then came her undoing. Prime Minister Trudeau was accused of improperly pressuring Minister of Justice and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to intervene in an ongoing criminal case against Quebec-based company SNC-Lavalin. Wilson-Raybould resisted the pressure and was shuffled into a lesser cabinet position. She then resigned. Philpott followed, saying it was “untenable” for her to continue to serve as a cabinet minister given the government’s handling of the affair.

Shortly thereafter, she was expelled from the Liberal caucus. As we are seeing in spades south of the border, in political parties loyalty to the leader generally trumps (no pun intended) principle. Plhilpott was vindicated when Parliament’s Ethics Commissioner released a report saying Trudeau had indeed contravened the Conflict of Interest Act. She later ran for re-election as an independent but lost.

Post-politics she was appointed dean of the Queen’s University Faculty of Health Sciences and director of the Queen’s School of Medicine, and CEO of the Southeastern Ontario Academic Medical Organization. Over Philpott’s career, she has earned a lengthy list of awards and honours. Earlier this year, she published a book titled Health for All: A Doctor’s Prescription for a Healthier Canada.

Premier Ford could hardly have found a better qualified person for the position he has appointed her to. I have no doubt she will do Ontario proud. And I respect the Premier and his Minister of Health, Sylvia Jones, for expanding their political reach to make the appointment.