Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to shuffle his cabinet after four cabinet ministers told the Prime Minister’s Office they will not be running in the next election, adding more pressure to a government facing an internal caucus revolt.
The minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, Filomena Tassi, and Sports Minister Carla Qualtrough have announced on social media they will not run again.
Other ministers that will not be running again include Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal and National Revenue Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, a government source confirmed to The Canadian Press. The two ministers have not yet put out statements.
The announcements come during an unstable time for the prime minister, whose party has been lagging behind the Conservatives in the polls for over a year. The latest Nanos Research poll from Oct. 15 shows the Liberals holding the support of 23 percent of Canadians, compared with the Tories at 39 percent and the NDP at 21 percent.
Tassi released a statement on Oct. 17 saying that she decided not to run again so that she could be “closer to home with my family.” Tassi, who was first elected in 2015, said she was proud of what the government had achieved for her city of Hamilton.
Tassi also said she was grateful to the prime minister for inspiring her and entrusting her with cabinet positions such as deputy whip, seniors minister, and minister of public service and procurement. “I wish him the very best now and in the future. I believed in him in 2015 and believe in him now,” she said.
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Qualtrough said in a press release that she had recently advised Trudeau that she would not be running again, but was “grateful to the prime minister for putting his trust in me from day one,” and was “honoured” to have been given the positions of minister of employment and minister of sports.
Three out of the four ministers are currently projected to lose in their ridings, according to 338Canada. Tassi is trailing in the riding of Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas (39 percent Conservatives to 32 percent Liberals), Bibeau is behind in the riding of Compton-Stanstead (33 percent Bloc Québécois to 28 percent Liberals), and Qualtrough is projected to lose in the riding of Delta (48 percent Conservatives to 31 percent Liberals).
Only Vandal’s race in Saint Boniface-Saint Vital is close, with the Liberals narrowly leading by 35 percent to the Conservatives’ 34 percent.
Trudeau has shuffled his cabinet a total of three times, doing so in 2018, 2021, and 2023. The next cabinet shuffle could happen by the end of next week, the source told The Canadian Press, but is expected to occur following the next Liberal caucus meeting on Oct. 23.
Discontent Within the Liberal Party
Last week it was also reported that numerous MPs were in closed-door discussions around convincing the prime minister to step down. The Liberal Party does not have a mechanism for MPs to recall a leader during a mandate, and Trudeau has repeatedly signalled his intention to lead the party through the next election.Trade Minister Mary Ng said on Oct. 12 that she had full confidence in the prime minister and was “disappointed“ by the caucus revolt, while Liberal MP Anthony Housefather said he supports ”whoever is leader of my party at all times.”
Trudeau told reporters on Oct. 14 that there would be “time to talk about internal party intrigue at another moment,” but that he wanted MPs to focus on supporting Canada during its ongoing diplomatic rift with India.
The discontent within the Liberal Party grew as it faced two by-election losses in previously safe ridings, with Toronto-St. Paul’s falling to the Conservatives in June and Montreal’s LaSalle-Émard-Verdun riding going to the Bloc Québécois in September.
The NDP also pulled out of its supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals in early September, which would have kept the government in power until June 2025 in exchange for moving NDP priorities forward.
Other cabinet ministers have previously announced their resignations. In July, Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan announced he was stepping down from cabinet and would not be running for re-election. In September, Pablo Rodriguez also resigned from his position as federal transport minister to serve as an Independent MP, as he intends to launch a campaign for the leadership of the Liberal Party in Quebec.
Former Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra has also announced he will not be seeking re-election, while former Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett and former Justice Minister David Lametti announced they were leaving politics, sparking byelections in their ridings.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
