Federal Labour and Seniors Minister Seamus O’Regan announced Thursday he’s resigning from cabinet and won’t seek re-election.
O’Regan, 53, is staying on as MP until the next general election. He said in a media statement posted to social media that “ultimately, my family comes first.
“I need to be a better husband, son, uncle, and friend, and this job means, and deserves, a lot of time in order to do it well.”
He was elected to Parliament in 2015 as the MP for St. John’s South-Mount Pearl. O’Regan has been in cabinet since 2017 and has also held the natural resources, Indigenous services and veterans affairs portfolios. He took over as labour minister in 2021.
Sources tell CBC News and Radio-Canada that O’Regan will be replaced by Gatineau MP Steven MacKinnon, who has been serving as government House leader while Karina Gould is on parental leave.
The new minister of labour and seniors will be sworn in at Rideau Hall on Friday, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
In his statement announcing his resignation, O’Regan highlighted his work in the numerous portfolios he’s overseen and said he remains “deeply indebted” to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the chance to serve in cabinet.
“I’ll miss working with this prime minister as I have,” O’Regan said. “I believe he’ll be regarded as one of the most consequential and important leaders in our country’s history. His strength, endurance and vision are unmatched, and they will see us through the next election.”
Before entering politics, O’Regan was a host of the CTV morning show Canada AM and a national correspondent for the network.
O’Regan is also a longtime friend of Prime Minister Trudeau. O’Regan was in Trudeau’s wedding party in 2005.
In a social media post, Trudeau said “my friend Seamus has been a pragmatic voice and a relentless advocate around the cabinet table.
“But to do that work well, you have to sacrifice a lot and ask so much of your family. I respect his decision wholeheartedly.”
Speaking with CBC’s Power & Politics, O’Regan told host David Cochrane that “one thing that keeps you going in this job is the work is really good. The good days are amazing. The bad days are tough. But then the good days are amazing.”
‘There’s never a good time, there’s never a perfect time. There’s just the time,’ outgoing minister of labour Seamus O’Regan told Power & Politics Thursday regarding his decision to leave cabinet. Liberal sources tell CBC O’Regan will be replaced by Quebec MP Steven MacKinnon.
When questioned about the timing of his announcement — just as the Liberals are struggling to reverse a long slump in the polls — O’Regan said “where we are in the polls wouldn’t mean a whit to the amount of time I spend away from my family.”
The PMO said in a statement that O’Regan “has been a steadfast advocate for labour unions and workers.”
“The prime minister extends his sincere thanks to Minister O’Regan for his exceptional leadership and dedication to making life better for Canadians, including for unions, workers, and organized labour,” the PMO said.
Defence Minister Bill Blair told reporters Thursday that O’Regan “has been a remarkable member of our government. He has served very capably in every job that the prime minister has given him, most recently as our minister of labour.”
Defence Minister Bill Blair says he does not know why his colleague Seamus O’Regan is leaving the federal cabinet.
At the end of his statement, O’Regan said that “we live in hectic times.”
“They’ve been hectic almost from the time we took office in 2015. Nerves are rubbed raw. But we have a choice,” he said. “This is a time to unite not divide, create not destroy, and build rather than break this great country of Canada. It is a treasure. It’s worth fighting for.”
Trudeau and his cabinet are scheduled to meet on Friday. Sources told CBC News the meeting is expected to be quick and virtual, and to focus on clearing up unfilled appointments.
The cabinet meeting is the first since the Liberals’ surprising byelection loss to the Conservatives in Toronto-St. Paul’s, a riding that previously had been a stronghold for the party.