Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s major cabinet shuffle on July 26 is likely not an indication he seeks to launch an early election, political observers told The Epoch Times.
Mr. Trudeau completely stripped seven MPs of their ministerial roles, promoted seven new ministers, and made close to another two dozen changes to his cabinet.
During a press conference at Rideau Hall after the swearing-in ceremony, Mr. Trudeau called the shuffle “a positive step in a moment of consequential impact in the world and in the country.”
He rejected suggestions that the reorganization signals an intent to cut short his current mandate and call an election before the fall of 2025.
“This is a cabinet to govern,” he said in French. “We expect and we hope to be able to govern for another couple years. ... We have a lot of work to do to deliver for Canadians.”
Recent polling suggests the Conservatives are increasing their lead in voter intentions. Elliot Hughes, a senior adviser with public affairs firm Summa Strategies, doesn’t expect an early election, saying the Liberals want to stay in power as long as they can.
Mr. Hughes says the purpose of the shuffle was to “re-energize the government to complete its term.”
“I would be surprised if there was an election in 2024, and I would see them trying to push their agreement with the NDP for as long as they can,” he told The Epoch Times.
Aaron Wudrick, director of the Domestic Policy Program at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, also doesn’t think the shuffle is a sign of an early election. In fact, he thinks there is not much consequence to the cabinet changes.
Big Names Fall
Several senior and well-known ministers did not survive the shuffle and were dropped from cabinet, including David Lametti at Justice and Marco Mendicino at Public Safety.The one holding the government’s purse, Mona Fortier, was removed from the Treasury Board.
Only eight ministers had their roles stay the same, including Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, and Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
Among ministers who were promoted is Dominic Leblanc, who, on top of retaining his current portfolio of intergovernmental affairs, will now also look after public safety.
Bill Blair, who had held the entire public safety portfolio before being given only the emergency preparedness file in a previous shuffle, moves to the key role of defence. Anita Anand leaves her role as defence minister to replace Ms. Fortier as Treasury Board president.
‘Fresh Faces’
Mr. Virani is among the seven Liberal MPs joining cabinet. Others taking on roles related to sometimes complicated issues include Gary Anandasangaree as minister of crown-indigenous relations and Ya’ara Saks as minister of mental health and addictions.The arrival of these relatively unknown names has caught the attention of the two analysts.
Mr. Wudrick says the prime minister promoted some MPs who have been more reserved rather than those who typically make a lot of noise on social media.
“There is one school of thought that the people who are the biggest team players, who are the sort of biggest cheerleaders of the government, will find their way into cabinet,” he says. Instead, it’s “relatively low-profile folks” who made it into cabinet.
He says the new cabinet appointments could be “diamonds in the rough,” increasing the visibility of those MPs in the next election and bringing political value to the moves without a lot of downside.
Mr. Hughes noted that the prime minister explained the shuffle as a means to bring “fresh faces and better communicators” to files like public safety and justice.
“Today was really about trying to put a fresh face on a government that’s been in power for eight years, and reminding Canadians that they’re laser-focused on the economy and helping Canadians and their families through the tough times,” he said.
