Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled his cabinet Wednesday morning, an attempt to put a new face on his minority government that has been plagued by issues recently.
The cabinet shuffle comes at a time when a July Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News suggested 37 per cent of Canadians said they would vote for Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party if an election were held right now – a four-point jump since February.
The Liberals would fall behind with 32 per cent of votes, which is one point lower than they got four months ago.
Trudeau brought seven new MPs into his cabinet Wednesday, shuffled a number into new roles and kept some key ministers in their current jobs.
The new Liberal MPs entering cabinet are Jenna Sudds, Rechie Valdez, Ya’ara Saks, Arif Virani, Gary Anandasangaree, Soraya Martinez Ferrada and Terry Beech.
Veterans such as Chrystia Freeland, Francois-Phillipe Champagne and Melanie Joly will remain in their roles, while cabinet ministers such as Dominic LeBlanc, Marc Miller and Sean Fraser will have new roles.
Among the most prominent ministers to be shuffled out of their job is Anita Anand, who will become president of the Treasury Board after serving as national defence minister.
Anand was tasked with shaping cultural change in the military amid widespread reports of sexual misconduct throughout the service. Stepping into her previous role will be Bill Blair, who recently served as emergency preparedness minister.
Since 2019, the Liberals and the Conservatives have been neck and neck in public opinion polling, but that poll marked the first time that Ipsos polling has shown either side being able to really break out, Darrell Bricker, global CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs, told Global News Tuesday.
Trudeau, whose minority government could face an election at any time, needs to get some “momentum back,” he said.
“It seems this time that it’s not going to be a minor, kind of administrative shuffle; it’s going to be a major shuffle in which they try to do a bit of a reset in terms of how they present themselves to the Canadian public, and frankly, based on how their polling numbers are doing these days, they definitely need to do something,” Bricker said.
Seven former cabinet ministers were removed from their portfolios Wednesday Marco Mendicino, who held the role of public safety minister, David Lametti as justice minister and Mona Fortier as Treasury Board head, were shuffled out.
Mendicino, who has been under fire for months over his office’s handling of the transfer of notorious serial killer Paul Bernardo, confirmed his departure on Twitter Wednesday morning. He said he intends to remain MP for Eglinton-Lawrence “for the remainder of this mandate, and into the next election.”
Former transport minister Omar Alghabra, ex-procurement minister Helena Jaczek, and former fisheries, oceans and coast guard Minister Joyce Murray all announced Tuesday morning on Twitter that they would not be seeking re-election. Ex-mental health and addictions minister Carolyn Bennett announced her plans not to run again on Monday evening.
Trudeau last shuffled his cabinet in August 2022, moving Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas MP Filomena Tassi to Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario from public services and procurement. Markham—Stouffville’s Jaczek was named her replacement as public services and procurement minister.
The shuffle was at Tassi’s request to be closer to home due to family reasons, the Prime Minister’s Office said at the time.
The expected shuffle comes as the government is facing serious pressure on the cost of living, specifically housing prices and its handling of foreign interference.
The anticipated cabinet shuffle will likely represent where Trudeau wants his government to go, said Kathy Brock, a professor at Queen’s University’s school of policy studies.
Brock said the government has to shore up economic portfolios dealing with issues like inflation, the economy, trade and housing. Also, the government is going to have to pay attention to different regions and areas where it needs to build support, including urban centres like Toronto and Montreal, she added.
“The government has been in office long enough that its previous goals no longer hold, and Canadians are going to see what the priorities are for the next … Liberal government or what the party is going to be fighting for if it goes into opposition,” Brock said, adding that another takeaway from a shuffle would be if the government is dealing with some of the problems that have shaken Canadians’ confidence in it.
“Those would be the two takeaways: What are the priorities going forward, and is our prime minister taking Canadians’ concerns seriously and addressing them in this shuffle?”
Trudeau has put an emphasis on gender parity in cabinet, along with linguistic and regional representation.
His first cabinet made international headlines for having an equal number of men and women in ministerial positions.
Asked to explain why he did so at the time, Trudeau famously said: “Because it’s 2015.”
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.