Major portfolio shuffle in new Liberal Cabinet
The Canadian voters rewarded Trudeau and the Liberal Party with a minority government mandate for another four years. Minority governments never last and sending Canadians to the polls in the middle of a pandemic was a gamble that did not pay off. The Liberals were hoping to gain back their majority government but the election yield virtually the same amount of seats as it had before the Parliament was dissolved.
The election saw the defeat of several prominent female Cabinet Ministers, which puts Trudeau’s push for gender parity in jeopardy. In the previous election, the failure to garner any seats in Alberta or Saskatchewan left no representation in those prairie provinces, which prompted the government to create a special liaison position to ensure their needs will be addressed.
Fast forward to 2021, the Liberal government saw the election of two MP’s from Alberta, George Chahal in Calgary and Randy Boissonnault from Edmonton, in which Boissonnault was elevated to a Cabinet position. The new cabinet has many old faces that will occupy new portfolios while seeing a handful of new cabinet rookies.
The new Cabinet is appointed as follows:
- Chrystia Freeland remains Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
- Omar Alghabra remains Minister of Transport
- Anita Anand becomes Minister of National Defence
- Carolyn Bennett becomes Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health
- Marie-Claude Bibeau remains Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
- Bill Blair becomes President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness
- Randy Boissonnault becomes Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance
- François-Philippe Champagne remains Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
- Jean-Yves Duclos becomes Minister of Health
- Mona Fortier becomes President of the Treasury Board
- Sean Fraser becomes Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
- Karina Gould becomes Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
- Steven Guilbeault becomes Minister of Environment and Climate Change
- Patty Hajdu becomes Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario
- Mark Holland becomes Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
- Ahmed Hussen becomes Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion
- Gudie Hutchings becomes Minister of Rural Economic Development
- Marci Ien becomes Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth
- Helena Jaczek becomes Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
- Mélanie Joly becomes Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Kamal Khera becomes Minister of Seniors
- David Lametti remains Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
- Dominic LeBlanc becomes Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities
- Diane Lebouthillier remains Minister of National Revenue
- Lawrence MacAulay remains Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence
- Marco E. L. Mendicino becomes Minister of Public Safety
- Marc Miller becomes Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations
- Joyce Murray becomes Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
- Mary Ng becomes Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development
- Seamus O’Regan Jr. becomes Minister of Labour
- Ginette Petitpas Taylor becomes Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
- Carla Qualtrough remains Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion
- Pablo Rodriguez becomes Minister of Canadian Heritage and remains Quebec Lieutenant
- Harjit S. Sajjan becomes Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada
- Pascale St-Onge becomes Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec
- Filomena Tassi becomes Minister of Public Services and Procurement
- Dan Vandal becomes Minister of Northern Affairs, Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency
- Jonathan Wilkinson becomes Minister of Natural Resources
“Canadians need a strong and diverse Cabinet to deliver on their priorities and keep Canada moving forward for everyone. This team will finish the fight against COVID‑19, deliver on $10-a-day child care, help Canadians find a home of their own, tackle the climate crisis, and continue to advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Together, we will work tirelessly to build a better future for all Canadians.”The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
With the Liberals voted back in with another minority government, they will once again be relying on other parties for support.
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