Prime Minister Justin Trudeau added eight Liberal MPs to his front bench and reassigned four ministers in a cabinet shuffle in Ottawa on Friday. But as soon as they were sworn-in, they faced questions about the political future of their government, and their leader.
Making several changes to his ministerial roster now comes after a tumultuous week for the federal Liberals, and was framed as a bid to inject some stability, exactly one month before U.S. president-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Though, before the ceremony even got underway, Trudeau was dealt a major blow to the last remaining pillar of parliamentary support his embattled minority was relying on to stay in power. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh dropped a letter declaring his party will be moving a motion of non-confidence in the new year.
Trudeau attended the ceremony, presided over by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon in the ballroom at Rideau Hall. It was his first public appearance since facing fresh calls to resign.
Here’s who’s in, and who is being handed new responsibilities.
Ontario MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith becomes Canada’s next housing, infrastructure and communities minister, taking over for Sean Fraser, who announced on Monday that he wouldn’t be running again.
And, taking over the public safety portfolio from Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc – who took on the top economic post on Monday after Chrystia Freeland’s stunning resignation – is Ontario MP and current chair of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) David McGuinty.
The other Liberal MPs who have joined cabinet are:
- Quebec MP Rachel Bendayan, becoming Canada’s official languages minister and associate minister of public safety.
- Quebec MP Élisabeth Brière, becoming the minister of national revenue, taking over for Marie-Claude Bibeau who isn’t running again.
- Manitoba MP Terry Duguid, who becomes minister of sport and the minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada.
- Nova Scotia MP Darren Fisher, who is Canada’s new minister of veterans affairs and associate defence minister.
- Newfoundland and Labrador MP Joanne Thompson, taking on the minister of seniors title, which was a role handed off, after Seamus O’Regan left cabinet, and
- Ontario MP and outgoing whip Ruby Sahota who picks up the democratic institutions portfolio and becomes the minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, a role outgoing minister Filomena Tassi held.
The current cabinet ministers moving into new, or amended positions are:
- Anita Anand, who had been doing double duty as Treasury Board president and transport minister, is now the minister of transport and internal trade.
- Gary Anandasangaree, who maintains his role as minister of Crown-Indigenous relations, picks up the northern affairs and Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency positions from Dan Vandal who isn’t running again.
- Steven MacKinnon, who keeps his job as labour minister but is also taking on the employment, workforce development and official languages role from Randy Boissonnault, who left cabinet last month to focus on clearing the allegations against him.
- And, Ginette Petitpas Taylor becomes Canada’s next Treasury Board president.
As anticipated, based on comments LeBlanc made yesterday, Mark Carney has not been appointed a cabinet position in this shuffle after Trudeau assured LeBlanc he’d be staying in his current role until the next election.
Throughout his shuffles, Trudeau has sought to uphold gender parity and balance regional representation as best as possible. His current front bench does maintain an equal number of men and women: 19, when not counting the prime minister, for a total of 38 ministers.
Ministers pressed on Trudeau’s future
Sources have indicated that while Trudeau is ready to make changes to his inner circle, it’s not to be interpreted as the prime minister being ready to declare his next steps.
After cancelling a series of end-of-year interviews, Trudeau did not take questions from reporters following the shuffle. He has called a cabinet meeting for 3 p.m. EST but it remains to be seen whether he’ll speak publicly, then.
In a statement announcing the changes to his ministry, Trudeau said his team “is focused on the things that matter most to you – making life more affordable, growing the economy, and creating good jobs for the middle class.”
“Together, we will keep building a strong future for the middle class, and for all Canadians,” he said.
Though, how much longer Trudeau will be at the helm of this team remains an open question. As ministers came out to face reporters after the ceremony, they were repeatedly asked whether they still had confidence in the prime minister, and why.
“We’re all here today because we absolutely support the prime minister,” said Petitpas Taylor. “We can’t answer that question on behalf of folks that have already made comments. We are here today. We are a united front.”
Anand, who was visibly upset on Monday after learning of Freeland’s resignation, said that she’s been thinking a lot about the events of the week and has spoken to the prime minister, and came to the conclusion that “this is a moment where we need to stand united.”
Citing the “growing threat” Trump’s administration poses to the Canadian economy, Anand said if leaders “don’t all band in the same direction, the results are not going to be as strong as they otherwise would.”
Others, though, acknowledged the circumstances.
“Politics is about choices. Very often, those are difficult choices. I think the prime minister was quite clear that he has a choice that he’s reflecting on,” said Bendayan.
“I think each one of us, and certainly I’ll speak for myself, I made a choice today, and the decision that I made is based on the intention that I always had, and that was to enter politics not worrying about the next election, or the partisan nature of this job, but in order to serve Canadians.”
Erskine-Smith, who is known on the Hill for having an independent streak, said he’s taken on this new responsibility with the awareness that it may be time-limited.
“Look, I understand there’s going to be a short runway. I’m not blind to that. But if I can make a small difference, if I can make a big difference, I want to make the biggest difference that I can,” he said. “That’s why I joined politics in the first place…it wasn’t an easy decision, by any means.”