The Member of Parliament for Provencher says it did not come as a surprise to be left off the list of shadow ministers, announced Wednesday by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. 

There were 51 Tory MPs selected as full critics, with another 20 considered associate critics. Ted Falk says he was not expecting to make either list, noting these positions were given largely to Members of Parliament who endorsed Poilievre in last month's leadership vote. Falk threw his support behind Leslyn Lewis.

"I'm actually very impressed with the roster he's chosen," admits Falk, referring to Poilievre's list. "I'm very pleased that as Manitoba we actually have three shadow ministerial positions."

Those three positions belong to Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa MP Dan Mazier who is Conservative critic for Rural Economic Development and Connectivity, Kildonan-St. Paul MP Raquel Dancho who is Conservative Critic for Public Safety and Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman MP James Bezan who is Conservative critic for National Defence.

According to Falk, Manitoba has traditionally had only two Conservative MPs serve as critics.

Falk acknowledges the difficult task it must have been to comprise this list. For starters, he says Poilievre had 66 MPs support him in the leadership race, yet there are only 51 shadow minister positions. And second of all, he says there are geographical considerations to keep in mind as well.

Leslyn Lewis is now the critic for Infrastructure and Communities.

"I think that's a very, very important part and I'm happy to see that he's selected Dr. Lewis to fill that position," adds Falk.

The Provencher MP says even though he was not selected as a critic, there is no bad seat in the House of Commons. He says he looks forward to finding out what sort of committee assignments or additional responsibilities he may get from his leader. Falk expects to find out later this week.

Meanwhile, Falk says the Conservative caucus is very unified under its new leader, something he says was missing under the previous leadership. 

"We're actually all a super cohesive group and just really excited to be back working together harmoniously and with Pierre as our leader," adds Falk.

He says the Conservatives are focused on holding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government accountable for the mismanagement of Canadian finances, the mismanagement of our economy and for allowing inflation to get out of control.