Trudeau shuffles cabinet as his Liberal government faces new election threat

By Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press on December 20, 2024.

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is adding eight fresh faces to his cabinet in a shuffle today, though they may not have much time in those new roles after all.

Just before Trudeau moved to shore up his front bench Friday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh declared he is finally ready to vote down the government and attempt to trigger a snap election in the new year — though Parliament won’t return for a month and he may not get that chance until March.

Trudeau is moving to shore up his struggling government by plugging gaps in his front bench after several cabinet ministers decided not to run in the election next year.

Trudeau is not moving around the biggest players on his team, though he will add an associate minister of public safety into the mix.

The prime minister is lifting from his back bench Brampton, Ont. MP Ruby Sahota, St. John’s, N.L. MP Joanne Thompson and Sherbrooke, Que. MP Élisabeth Brière.

The new appointments also include Montreal MP Rachel Bendayan, Winnipeg MP Terry Duguid, Toronto MP Nate Erskine-Smith, Ottawa MP David McGuinty and Nova Scotia MP Darren Fisher.

Trudeau’s government was dealt a massive blow by the surprise loss of Chrystia Freeland as finance minister earlier this week.

Losing Freeland quickly revived and amplified calls from within the Liberal caucus for Trudeau to step down for the good of his party.

Liberal MP Rob Oliphant posed on social media Friday a statement saying party faithful in his riding have told him that Trudeau has “become a key obstacle” to progress on the government’s progressive agenda and its “record of achievements is now at risk.”

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh vowed Friday he will attempt to bring down the government in a House of Commons vote of no confidence once Parliament resumes in the new year.

BlocQuébécoisLeader Yves-François Blanchet also recently said he believes Canadians should go to the polls in the new year as the country faces president-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats.

McGuinty, a longtime Ottawa Liberal MP who has chaired the secretive national security committee of parliamentarians since 2017, is taking on the role of public safety minister from Dominic LeBlanc, who was moved to finance quickly Monday after Freeland’s abrupt departure. His brother, former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty, made the trip to Rideau Hall for the Friday morning ceremony.

Bendayan becomes minister of official languages and the associate minister of public safety. Public safety has taken on even more prominence in recent weeks as Canada rushes to beef up border security in response to Trump’s trade threats.

Anita Anand, who has carried both transport and Treasury Board since Pablo Rodriguez left cabinet in September, will keep transport while Ginette Petitpas-Taylor, who has been juggling both employment and veterans affairs, is to become president of the Treasury Board.

Steven MacKinnon adds employment to his file and maintains the labour post.

Gary Anandasangaree will add northern affairs to his job as minister of Crown-Indigenous Affairs, to replace Winnipeg MP Dan Vandal who is leaving cabinet after announcing he won’t seek re-election.

Winnipeg MP Terry Duguid will take on Vandal’s role as minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, and replace B.C. MP Carla Qualtrough as the sport minister.

Duguid will also be the only MP from the three prairie provinces in cabinet.

Brière will replace outgoing Liberal MP Marie-Claude Bibeau as national revenue minister.

Sahota will become minister of democratic institutions and responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, replacing Filomena Tassi, while Thompson takes on the seniors portfolio.

This may be Trudeau’s last major overhaul of his cabinet before the next election, to be called by fall 2025 at the latest.

But putting fresh faces on his front bench in the House of Commons could just as easily backfire, if it upsets too many hopeful MPs seeking promotions.

With an election just around the corner next year, anyone in his caucus still undecided on their political futures will soon be forced to make a final decision if they will run again.

The move comes a month ahead of the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump, giving new ministers just a few short weeks to learn their departments inside out.

Trudeau said earlier this year that he has been courting former central banker Mark Carney to join his government in a top role and tapped him as a special economic adviser to the Liberal party.

But LeBlanc ruled out the idea of Carney becoming finance minister this week, saying Trudeau told him the job is his for keeps.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2024.

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