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In a major shakeup, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reshuffled some key portfolios of his ministers via a virtual swearing-in ceremony on January 12, 2021. The changes were prompted after Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Navdeep Bains decided to leave the cabinet and announced that he will not run in the next elections.
Francois-Philippe Champagne, the current Foreign Affairs Minister, is taking up Mr Bains’ industry portfolio.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Marc Garneau, who recently announced the COVID screening test for travelers entering Canada, will take Mr Champagne's position as the new Foreign Minister. Mr Garneau is a former astronaut and military veteran.
Omar Alghabra took oath as the next Transport Minister while Jim Carr was sworn-in as the Cabinet Minister and Special Representative for the Prairies.
The reshuffle comes ahead of a cabinet retreat scheduled later today, which is a four-day session spread over the next two weeks. The retreat will focus federal actions to manage the raging pandemic.
Canadian elections could be prompted as early as the spring of 2021 and Trudeau wants to make sure his ministers oversee the government's agenda during the political campaign. The Liberal Party won reelection in 2019 but does hold majority in Parliament.
Liberal MP Navdeep Bains cited spending more time with family as the reason for his departure.
This is the second reshuffle in less than six months.
The previous cabinet shuffle was in August after Bill Morneau quit as finance minister following the controversy surrounding WE Charity. An investigation by Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion reported that WE Charity paid Mr Morneau C$ 41,366 in travel expenses.
Mr Morneau was replaced by Chrystia Freeland, who’s current the deputy prime minister of Canada and also holds the finance portfolio. Freeland became the first woman Finance Minister of Canada. She is also the second woman to hold the finance portfolio in a G-7 nation after France’s Christine Lagarde.
Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc stepped into the Freeland’s earlier role of minister of intergovernmental affairs.
