OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has shuffled three ministers into new roles, and appointed two rookies — David Lametti and Bernadette Jordan — to the front bench in a federal cabinet shakeup on Monday at Rideau Hall.
The changes were, in the prime minister’s mind, an “opportunity to put strong performers in important files and continue to demonstrate our capacity to deliver on a broad range of priorities for Canadians,” Trudeau said, speaking to reporters after unveiling his changes to the ministerial roster.
The shuffle puts the size of the federal cabinet at 36 members, including Trudeau. This is the largest number of seats around the cabinet table during this government’s term in office. The gender balance is retained with today’s changes. Trudeau moved minister Jane Philpott into the newly-vacated role as president of the Treasury Board and minister of digital government. This spot needed filling after long-time MP Scott Brison announced last week that he was resigning from cabinet because he will not be seeing re-election in 2019. The main priority of this position is overseeing the federal public service and intergovernmental spending.
Philpott, an Ontario MP, has been seen as a strong performer in cabinet. Trudeau called her a “natural choice” for the new job given her experience as vice-chair of the Treasury Board cabinet committee.
Speaking to reporters outside Rideau Hall, Philpott said that she had enjoyed learning in each new portfolio she’s held. This is now her third cabinet post, starting as the health minister in 2015.
Part of her job will be working on the incoming new public service pay system to replace the problem-plagued Phoenix software.
“I can assure the public service that I will put my full attention behind making sure that that is implemented in the best possible way and expedited in terms of the rollout plan on that.”
Philpott’s new job meant there was a vacancy in the role as Indigenous services minister, a cabinet post created in 2017 as part of an effort to reset the nation-to-nation relationship with Indigenous people.
That job has been given to Newfoundland MP Seamus O’Regan, who is being shuffled out of the Veterans Affairs portfolio, a job he’s had since joining cabinet in that same 2017 shuffle.
He’ll be continuing the work on delivering programs to First Nations, Inuit and Métis people, including education and housing, as well as chipping away at clearing the drinking water advisories in First Nation communities.
Asked to comment on why O’Regan was moving, Trudeau said that both his past role and his new one are centred around direct delivery from the government to citizens, and that is something that needs to be done right.
O’Regan said his predecessor did a great job and he has big shoes to fill, when it comes to maintaining the relationships and trust she was developing with Indigenous people. He has vowed not to lose any of the momentum of Philpott’s tenure.
In hot water in recent months, over what some saw as problematic comments comparing his experience to that of veterans, O’Regan said he doesn’t want anything he says to serve as a distraction. “I’m going to be spending an awful lot of time over the course of the next few months listening intently and where I can acting in concert with Indigenous peoples,” O’Regan said.
Jody Wilson-Raybould is out as justice minister, a job she’s had since 2015, and has been shuffled into the Veterans Affairs job.
Trudeau, responding to why British Columbia MP Wilson-Raybould was shuffled out of justice, said that serving veterans affairs requires a steady hand and she has navigated big files during her years on the file. He called her “extraordinarily capable,” and shot down that it’s a demotion.
“I would caution anyone who thinks that serving our veterans and making sure they get the care to which they are so justly entitled from any Canadian government is anything other than a deep and awesome responsibility,” Trudeau said.
Wilson-Raybould also downplayed any suggestion that her move is a demotion, saying that she is “incredibly proud” of the work she did during her three years in the role. She said she feels she accomplished most of her mandate letter tasks, from legalizing cannabis and putting in a new regime for physician-assisted dying, to advancing legislation to reform the criminal justice system.
“I will bring the same work commitment, the same passion, the same desire to ensure that we care for our veterans, that we hear our veterans, that we have compassion for our veterans and that we most importantly respect our veterans. I will continue to do as much outreach to hear from them how we can serve them in the most appropriate and best way we can because that is what they deserve,” she said. Source: ctvnews.ca
Monday, April 27, 2026
