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Jul 21, 2023

Quebec keeps cabinet heft amid Trudeau shuffle

The new justice minister says Ottawa will take part if a challenge to Bill 21 reaches the Supreme Court of Canada. Federal cabinet ministers from Quebec played musical chairs Wednesday as Prime

The new justice minister says Ottawa will take part if a challenge to Bill 21 reaches the Supreme Court of Canada.

Federal cabinet ministers from Quebec played musical chairs Wednesday as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a major shuffle.

When it was over, six ministers had new portfolios, three kept their positions, and one high-profile cabinet member was out of a job, replaced by another Montrealer.

The major cabinet overhaul — most portfolios changed hands — came as polls suggest the Liberals are losing support to the Conservatives across much of the country. The next federal election must be held by the fall of 2025.

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Trudeau’s Liberal government is under pressure on many fronts — from housing to inflation to foreign interference.

The lone Quebecer to lose a cabinet post was David Lametti, who previously held the key roles of justice minister and attorney general.

He was replaced by Arif Virani, a bilingual Toronto MP who is a former investigator at the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse in Montreal.

The surprise change comes ahead of an expected challenge to Quebec’s secularism law before the Supreme Court of Canada.

A Quebec Court of Appeal decision is expected soon on a constitutional challenge to Bill 21. That law forbids some provincial government employees from wearing religious symbols such as the Muslim hijab at work.

Trudeau did not answer directly when reporters asked why he dumped Lametti and whether the decision was related to the Bill 21 challenge.

“This is a moment where (it’s important to put) forward the strongest possible team with fresh energy and a range of skills,” the prime minister said.

He thanked Lametti, saying the former minister “still has a great deal to contribute to our caucus and within the greater Liberal team, and I’m eager to work with him in the future.”

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In a statement posted on social media Wednesday, Lametti thanked Trudeau for including him in previous cabinets. The MP for LaSalle—Émard—Verdun did not say whether he plans to seek re-election.

Speaking to reporters, Virani reiterated the position taken by Trudeau and Lametti in the past.

The new minister would not disclose his personal opinion of the Quebec law, but said Bill 21 touches on very significant issues, “such as equality rights, freedom of religion and the ability of people to function in civil society as teachers, as judges, as police officers, etc.”

He added that “the prime minister has been very clear: If it gets to the Supreme Court of Canada, we are going to be there as intervenors (to put forward) our interpretation of (Bill 21), but also our defence, which has always been steadfast, of the Charter of Rights and the rights that are contained therein, including freedom of religion and equality rights.”

Bill 21 pre-emptively invoked the Charter of Rights’ notwithstanding clause, which allows governments to override some fundamental rights.

In January, Trudeau said he would like to submit the question of the notwithstanding clause to the Supreme Court to establish the rules necessary to employ it.

In response, Quebec Premier François Legault accused Trudeau of engaging in a “frontal attack against the capacity of our nation to protect our collective rights.”

After the shuffle, Quebec’s proportion of cabinet seats remained unchanged: 11 of 38, including Trudeau.

The new Quebec face in the cabinet is Soraya Martinez Ferrada. A first-time minister, she has the tourism portfolio and will also be responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec.

First elected in 2019, Ferrada represents Montreal’s Hochelaga riding. A political refugee who came to Canada from Chile in 1980, she is a former Montreal city councillor.

Keeping their jobs were:

In new positions:

Here’s the full cabinet:

— Anita Anand: president of the Treasury Board

— Gary Anandasangaree: minister of Crown-Indigenous relations

— Terry Beech: minister of citizens’ services

— Marie-Claude Bibeau: minister of national revenue

— Bill Blair: minister of national defence

— Randy Boissonnault: minister of employment, workforce development and official languages

— Francois-Philippe Champagne: minister of innovation, science and industry

— Jean-Yves Duclos: minister of public services and procurement

— Soraya Martinez Ferrada: minister of tourism and minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec

— Sean Fraser: minister of housing, infrastructure and communities

— Chrystia Freeland: deputy prime minister and minister of finance

— Karina Gould: government House leader

— Steven Guilbeault: minister of environment and climate change

— Patty Hajdu: minister of Indigenous services and minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario

— Mark Holland: minister of health

— Ahmed Hussen: minister of international development

— Gudie Hutchings: minister of rural economic development and minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

— Marci Ien: minister for women and gender equality and youth

— Mélanie Joly: minister of foreign affairs

— Kamal Khera: minister of diversity, inclusion and persons with disabilities

— Dominic LeBlanc: minister of public safety, democratic institutions and intergovernmental affairs

— Diane Lebouthillier: minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

— Lawrence MacAulay: minister of agriculture and agri-food

— Marc Miller: minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship

— Mary Ng: minister of export promotion, international trade and economic development

— Seamus O’Regan Jr.: minister of labour and seniors

— Ginette Petitpas Taylor: minister of veterans affairs and associate minister of national defence

— Carla Qualtrough: minister of sport and physical activity

— Pablo Rodriguez: minister of transport and Quebec lieutenant

— Harjit Sajjan: president of the King’s Privy Council for Canada, minister of emergency preparedness and minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada

— Ya’ara Saks: minister of mental health and addictions and associate minister of health

— Pascale St-Onge: minister of Canadian heritage

— Jenna Sudds: minister of families, children and social development

— Filomena Tassi: minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

— Rechie Valdez: minister of small business

— Arif Virani: minister of justice and attorney general of Canada

— Jonathan Wilkinson: minister of energy and natural resources

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