OTTAWA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will shuffle his cabinet in the coming weeks as four more cabinet ministers have told the Liberal leader they will not run again in the next campaign.
Over the last three months, a total of six of Trudeau’s cabinet ministers or 15 per cent have bailed ahead of a federal election which polls suggest the Liberals will lose. The drip-drip of names has meant that the coming shuffle will be the third in as many months.
The shuffle is not expected to occur next week, contrary to early reports, according to a senior source, but could come quickly in the weeks following that.
Parliament is in its Thanksgiving week recess, but MPs return next week, when Trudeau will face a restive caucus, with reports of more than two dozen, and possibly as many as 40 MPs, getting ready to challenge Trudeau to step aside as Liberal leader.
Hamilton’s Filomena Tassi, the minister for the federal economic development agency for southern Ontario, announced Thursday she won’t run for reasons “that are deeply personal. It is time for me to be closer to home with my family.”
Tassi follows National Revenue Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau expected to run for mayor of Sherbrooke, and two others who have advised Trudeau of their intention to leave politics: Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal who is in charge of economic development for the Prairies and the North, and Sport Minister Carla Qualtrough. Their departures were first reported by Radio-Canada.
Last month Trudeau’s Quebec lieutenant Pablo Rodriguez left the transport portfolio, and Liberal caucus, to make a run for the provincial Liberal Party of Quebec leadership — a departure Trudeau filled in the interim with Treasury Board President Anita Anand. Likewise, he had a quick shuffle in July when Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan advised he wouldn’t run again, also for “personal reasons.” Steven MacKinnon replaced O’Regan.
Trudeau has had a challenging fall, with polls continuing to show his party struggling.
After returning from a Francophonie summit in Paris where Israel’s military engagement with Hezbollah in Lebanon dominated talks, and before leaving for the ASEAN summit in Laos last week, the prime minister called off a planned trip next week to Samoa to take part in the Commonwealth leaders’ summit.
Trudeau returned from Laos on the weekend, after a meeting in Germany on Ukraine was cancelled by U.S. President Joe Biden, only to confront new reports, including by the Star, of brewing caucus unrest.
All that amid a Canada-India diplomatic rupture as a result of the RCMP bombshell allegations against Indian diplomats and consular officials — and Trudeau’s appearance at the public inquiry into foreign interference where the prime minister accused his main rival, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, of irresponsibly refusing to get the required security clearance to get briefings on how his own party is at risk.
Some MPs who spoke to the Star this week defended Trudeau in the face of growing caucus dissent, arguing those calling for his resignation are helping Poilievre.
“We are wasting our energy by focusing inwards rather than focusing on the needs of our constituents,” said Ottawa MP Yasir Naqvi.
“I respect Sean (Casey) but I disagree with him … Justin Trudeau has more to offer.” Naqvi was referring to the PEI MP who went public this week saying it was time for Trudeau to step aside.
Another MP said it was “disappointing” to hear about these efforts in the media when those conversations should be held in private.
Others said they have not seen a letter reportedly calling for Trudeau’s resignation and declined to take a stance on his leadership, but said they agree that conversations should be had about the future of the party. If even a small group of MPs sign a letter calling on the prime minister to resign, he will be put in a tough situation, they said.
With files from Mark Ramzy
