When Rona Ambrose catapulted past party veterans like Diane Ablonczy to take the role of environment minister early last year, there were high hopes that the largely untested minister's star would shine.

Less than a year into the job, Ambrose's blunders piled up at a time when the Conservative Party is attempting to re-brand itself as environmentally friendly, and having to compete with the newly elected Liberal leader; green guru Stephane Dion.

The MP for Edmonton-Spruce Grove made several key slip-ups along the way. The heavily criticized Clean Air Act, the government's move to back away from the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, and key errors made in the House of Commons all worked against her.

After weeks of speculation, Prime Minister Stephen Harper bumped Ambrose from her post, replacing her with John Baird, who was most recently president of the Treasury Board.

"Minister Ambrose did some important work," Harper told reporters after the shuffle.

"Several initiatives were begun. ... Frankly I think a lot more was done by Minister Ambrose in one year than by the previous government in 12. But we recognize, particularly when it comes to clean air and climate change, that Canadians expect a lot more."

Ambrose smiled broadly and appeared relieved when she took the oath for her new role as minister of intergovernmental affairs -- not surprising after a year carrying the cumbersome environmental canoe over some rocky portages.

The former public servant from Alberta entered directly into the fray when she took her first cabinet position last year.

With the cancellation of several Liberal programs to deal with climate change, she faced tough questions in the House of Commons, often urging MPs to hold off judgment and wait and see what she was working on behind the scenes.

When that was finally revealed in the fall in the form of the Clean Air Act, however, the storm gained new momentum.

Environmentalists were almost united in slamming the legislation, largely because timelines for reducing greenhouse gases were put off until as late as 2025, with so-called "intensity-based" targets to be put in place in the meantime.

Some of the tough measures included in the plan, such as replacing voluntary regulations for industry with mandatory ones, were all but lost in the outrage over the timelines.

Allan Tupper, a professor of politics at the University of British Columbia, said it demonstrated that the environment simply wasn't a top priority for the government -- and Ambrose was simply dealt a losing hand.

"It took a long time for them to get to something that looked when it ultimately did come, not nearly as well done as their other initiatives," Tupper told CTV.ca

Months after it was introduced, the so-called centrepiece legislation is still in limbo after Harper invited the NDP to weigh-in on the document which was unlikely to pass without the support of another party.

But Tupper said Thursday's cabinet shuffle indicates the Conservatives have finally made the environment a priority -- a smart move for two reasons.

"First of all, if this is the Conservatives' weak suit, it's probably the Liberals' strong suit under Dion, and that's not inconsequential," Tupper said.

"And I think secondly the environment is a very consequential issue everywhere, but it's particularly important in Quebec, which is obviously decisive for the next election."

"In a nutshell, there are some real imperatives to make this a real priority -- not just for one minister but for the entire party."

Ambrose -- though she was likely just following direction from the top -- also drew heavy fire for her work on the Kyoto file.

Rona Ambrose walks towards reporters at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP / Karel Prinsloo)

On Kyoto

During her stint as environment minister, Ambrose said Kyoto targets to reduce greenhouse gases were unrealistic and out of reach, consistently laying the blame on the previous government's inaction for the fact Canada is 27 per cent over its targets.

But she sent mixed messages about her government's stance.

"We're on track to meet all of our obligations under the Kyoto protocol but not the target," she said during an appearance on CTV's Question Period, before flying to Nairobi, Kenya for the UN climate change conference.

There are various reports that the government of Canada and other Kyoto signatories must submit as part of their commitment, but the targets are the key pillar of the program.

"I think right now we need to get our own house in order and we need to clean up our own backyard," Ambrose told reporters while in Nairobi. "We need to get our targets in place domestically so we can show the international community that we've made good progress."

Embarrassing mistakes

Another low point for Ambrose came in mid-December when she was corrected on a point of fact by her own assistant deputy minister as she testified before the Commons environment committee.

She had attacked the former Liberal government for spending $100-million on Kyoto projects overseas, running through a long list of projects.

It later became clear, however, that Ambrose was mistaken and no money had actually been spent on such projects.

Ambrose may find that her new intergovernmental affairs portfolio is a better fit. Shortly after being elected to the opposition in 2004 she was appointed to the position of intergovernmental affairs critic, and is considered a specialist in the area.

Prior to entering federal politics she held the post of senior intergovernmental officer with the international and intergovernmental relations department of the Government of Alberta.