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Like any regular federal politician, former Conservative cabinet minister Rob Moore is a busy man these days.
Based in Saint John, N.B., he often travels to Ottawa to attend meetings of the Tory caucus and shadow cabinet. He keeps a close watch on issues affecting Atlantic Canadians, and he often meets with business people and conducts media interviews.
But Moore is no ordinary politician. In fact, he isn't even a member of Parliament, even though he's the Conservative critic for Atlantic Canada.
Like every other Conservative and New Democrat MP in the region, he was tossed out of office on Oct. 19 when Justin Trudeau's Liberals won all 32 seats spread across the four provinces.
"The Atlantic region is hugely important to our party," said Moore. "With the Liberals having a complete monopoly on the ridings ... we don't have a lot of constructive debate going on. I think (the Liberals) just look at that big block of red and they say, 'We can take that region for granted.'"
Moore, the former minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, now works full-time for the Conservative leader's office, doing his part to keep the party connected with a region that has no opposition MPs.
While the Conservatives and New Democrats in Atlantic Canada were humbled by voters' wholesale rejection of the parties last year, both opposition parties are already rebuilding for the next election.
The NDP has appointed Quebec MP Guy Caron to be their Atlantic watchdog — his eastern Quebec riding is adjacent to northwestern New Brunswick.
"We're staying appraised of what is going on," said Caron. "The issues of my riding are issues of Atlantic Canada."
Caron said forestry, fisheries and employment insurance are among the common themes, and he's quick to add that he has an extra assistant in Ottawa to help him with the Atlantic file.
As for the Conservatives, they have devised a so-called buddy system that has paired MPs from outside the region with Conservative riding associations across Atlantic Canada.
