A Post from Niagara veteran heritage advocate Pamela Minns
Farewell to Michael Chan!
Ontario’s new minister for protecting heritage, Michael Coteau
With a new cabinet being named by Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario, June 23, 2014, we have a new Minister of Tourism, Culture & Sport Michael Coteau – MPP Don Valley East.
Born in Huddersfield, England in 1972; Coteau’s father is from Grenada and his mother is British. He came to Canada with his parents in 1976, graduated from Carleton University and taught English in South Korea.
He was a Toronto District School Board Trustee for Ward 17, winning elections in 2003, 2006 and 2010. As a Trustee, Coteau advocated for better student nutrition, increased digital technology in the classroom, and the community use of school space. In addition to his work as a Trustee, he served as the Executive Director/CEO of a national adult literacy firm, and worked as a community organizer in the Malvern area of Scarborough, Ontario.
In 2011 he ran in the provincial election in the riding of Don Valley East. He won the election beating PC candidate Michael Lende by over 7,000 votes. The Liberals won a minority government and Coteau was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Tourism and Culture. In 2013, after Wynne replaced McGuinty as Premier, he was named Minister of Citizenship & Immigration and was one of ten members of Wynne’s cabinet with no prior cabinet experience.
As of this new post, Coteau will be responsible for the 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games and Michael Chan has been named Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade.
For more information on Michael Coteau click on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Michael_Coteau)
I have high hopes for this new Minister and his interest in Ontario’s heritage.
Pamela J.Minns is a longtime advocate for the preservation of heritage sites in Niagara, Ontaro and is a member of Heritage Thorold LACAC. She has been a previous contributor of commentary to Niagara At Large.
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Niagara At Large 
This Gentleman seems to be a perfect fit for this cabinet post and if he handles it as well as he seems to have handled his own personal life the post is in fine shape ….
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Fingers crossed. At least he served as a parliamentary assistant to Tourism and Culture. But I fear that Heritage is very much on the back burner as those of us who work ‘in the field’ as volunteers, can surely attest. Pam Minns agrees with me fully, as we both serve on local heritage committees and with local historical societies.
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