Trudeau Shuffles His Cabinet and Adds Federal Seniors Minister

Prime Minister Trudeau has given his cabinet a makeover ahead of the 2019 election.

The Trudeau cabinet that was once lauded for it’s diversity received an extensive shake up on Wednesday, when Prime Minister Trudeau ushered in five new ministers and created new portfolios for seniors, intergovernmental affairs and border security.

The cabinet makeover gives Canadians a clear picture of Trudeau’s priorities ahead of the 2019 election.

Filomena Tassi, a Hamilton MP, will serve as Minister of Seniors, a position that was left out of his cabinet after the 2015 election, but was likely given priority as the position will involve securing a key voting demographic.

Jim Carrr, who served as Trudeau’s Natural Resources Minister, has been named Minister of International Trade Diversification—a position made all the more important by turbulent trade relations with the United States.

For the newly-created role of Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction, Trudeau brought in former Toronto Police Services chief, Bill Blair.

The other changes to the cabinet are as follows:

• Mary Ng, a former staffer in Trudeau’s office who was recently elected in a Markham-Thornhill byelection, becomes minister for small business and export promotion.
• Pablo Rodriguez, who was serving as chief government whip, becomes minister of heritage and multiculturalism.
• Dominic LeBlanc moves from Fisheries and Oceans to Intergovernmental Affairs, Northern Affairs and Internal Trade.
• Amarjeet Sohi moves from Infrastructure to Natural Resources.
• Carla Qualtrough, remains minister of public services and procurement and gets the added portfolio of Accessibility.
• Jim Carr moves from Natural Resources to International Trade Diversification.
• Mélanie Joly goes from Heritage to minister of tourism, official languages and la francophonie.
• François-Philippe Champagne moves from International Trade to Infrastructure and Communities.