Trudeau to unveil new ministers in cabinet shuffle after chaotic week

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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced 12 changes to his cabinet Friday morning, bringing in eight new ministers in one of his biggest cabinet shuffles since he was elected nine years ago. But they could only be in place for a few weeks, as the NDP is now promising to topple the government once Parliament returns in January.

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Jagmeet Singh promises non-confidence motion when Parliament returns

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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said his caucus would put forward a “clear motion of non-confidence” at the earliest opportunity when MPs will be back in Ottawa next year. With all opposition parties now committed to bringing down the government, that means Canadians could be headed to the polls earlier rather than later.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he has written to Governor General Mary Simon to ask her to “urgently” reconvene Parliament in order for that to happen.

Trudeau had been considering changes to his cabinet for some time, but the blockbuster resignation of his deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland on Monday forced him to act quickly. The position of minister responsible for Canada-U.S. relations, which was offered to Freeland according to a Liberal source and caused her to resign, did not appear on the list of new cabinet appointees.

New Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc will keep his new portfolio in finance but will no longer be minister of public safety and democratic institutions. Longtime Ottawa MP David McGuinty will become the new minister of Public Safety. McGuinty, whose brother is former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty, was chair of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians. The committee worked extensively on foreign interference.

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Treasury Board President Anita Anand and Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor also held several portfolios for weeks before Friday’s shuffle.

Anand will remain minister of transport, a portfolio she assumed in September when Pablo Rodriguez resigned, and will also be responsible for internal trade.

Petitpas Taylor will replace her at Treasury Board.

Trudeau also named former Ontario Liberal leadership candidate Nathaniel Erskine-Smith to cabinet as minister of housing. The Toronto MP had recently said he would be leaving federal politics and has been an outspoken member of Parliament, sometimes voting against his own party. He will replace Nova Scotia MP Sean Fraser in the role.

This year alone, nine cabinet ministers have resigned, announced they would not run for re-election or been fired. The new cabinet will not include a single Alberta representative. Meanwhile, Quebec will now have 11 ministers, including the prime minister. Manitoba MP Terry Duguid, who will serve as Liberal national campaign co-chair for the next election, becomes Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for Prairie Economic Development Canada.

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After National Revenue Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau recently announced she would not run for the Liberal Party, Trudeau decided to appoint Sherbrooke MP Élisabeth Brière to replace her.

Another Quebecer, Rachel Bendayan, becomes Minister of Official Languages and Associate Minister of Public Safety.

Steven MacKinnon will become Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour and Gary Anandasangaree becomes minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.

Other new faces who were sworn in Friday morning include Ruby Sahota as minister of Democratic Institutions and minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario; Darren Fisher as minister of Veterans Affairs and associate minister of National Defence; and Newfoundland MP Joanne Thompson, who becomes minister of seniors.

There are a number of notable absences in the list of new appointees, including MPs who served as parliamentary secretaries for years. One of them, Toronto-area MP Rob Oliphant, has been parliamentary secretary for the minister of foreign affairs since 2019 and was seen as a prospective Liberal who could have expected a position in cabinet.

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But on Friday, Oliphant called on Trudeau to step down as leader. He wrote in a letter that he came to that conclusion after consulting with his riding association on the next steps.

Oliphant said that the members and him “share profound gratitude” for Trudeau for leading the Liberal party for years and delivering “monumental changes” for Canada but “also have a shared view that him stepping aside to allow for new leadership will give our party the best chance in defending our hard-fought achievements under his leadership.

Speaking to reporters, the newly-sworn ministers reiterated their faith in Trudeau and called on their Liberal peers to stand united.

“I’m simply going to say we’re all here today because we absolutely support the prime minister,” said Petitpas Taylor.

Anand, who was visibly shaken after the news of Freeland’s departure, said she had been thinking a lot about the week’s event and had spoken with Trudeau a number of times.

“I believe this is a moment where we need to stand united,” she said as a result of this week’s reflection, mentioning the threat of tariffs from the incoming U.S. administration.

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Duguid echoed their message of unity. “It’s important that we keep Canadians’ concerns about affordability, about growing our economy front and center,” he said.

Erskine-Smith, known for his outspokenness, said out loud what everyone else was thinking.

“I understand there’s going to be a short runway. I’m not blind to that,” he said.

But he said he would make the most of it as housing minister in the little time that is left.

“If I can make a small difference, if I can make a big difference, I want it to be the biggest difference that I can. That’s why I joined politics in the first place.”

Trudeau briefly stopped to tell reporters that he had an “excellent” cabinet meeting focused on Canada-U.S. relations with his new ministers on Friday afternoon.

But as it has been the case this week, Trudeau did not address questions regarding Freeland’s resignation or the mounting calls inside his caucus for him to resign.

“We know how important it is for Canadians that we be there to protect not just the Canadian economy but their jobs, the cost of living challenges they’re facing that could get worse,” he said.

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“We have a lot of work to do and that’s what we’re focused on,” he added.

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