Former Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan is starting as Canada's Consul General in Boston. Photo: Government of Canada.

Former Member of Parliament for South Shore-St. Margarets, Bernadette Jordan, has been appointed as Canada’s Consul General in Boston, succeeding Rodger Cuzner, a former Nova Scotia Liberal MP who recently took on a Senate role.

Jordan, who served in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, entered politics in 2015 and assumed the role of Minister of Rural Economic Development in early 2019. Following her re-election later that year, Trudeau appointed her as the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Coast Guard.

Her time in office faced challenges, notably during the summer and fall of 2020, when tensions flared on Nova Scotia’s south shore between commercial and Indigenous fishers. Indigenous fishers sought to exercise their treaty rights to lobster harvesting, resulting in clashes. Criticisms were directed at the federal government, including Jordan, for inadequately ensuring Indigenous access to the fishery and failing to enforce harvest season regulations.

Jordan’s political journey took a turn when she faced defeat in the 2021 federal election, losing to Conservative MP Rick Perkins.