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Shake-up comes as prime minister is mulling his future as Liberal Party leader after top minister’s resignation.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reshuffled his cabinet, just days after his top deputy resigned in a move that sent shockwaves across the country and renewed calls for Trudeau to step down as head of the Liberal Party.
The prime minister welcomed the members of his new cabinet during a swearing-in ceremony in the capital, Ottawa, on Friday.
Among the most important portfolios, Ontario MP David McGuinty was named Canada’s minister of public safety, overseeing federal law enforcement agencies.
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, who also represents an electoral district in Ontario, is the new housing minister.
The shake-up comes after Canada’s finance minister and deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, announced on Monday that she was resigning amid a disagreement with Trudeau over how to handle a possible “tariff war” with the United States.
Last month, US President-elect Donald Trump warned Canada that he would impose 25-percent tariffs against the country if it didn’t do more to stem irregular migration and the flow of illegal drugs across its border with the US.
“The incoming administration in the United States is pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism, including a threat of 25 per cent tariffs. We need to take that threat extremely seriously,” Freeland wrote in her resignation letter.
“That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war.”
Trudeau, who has served as prime minister since 2015, has faced months of pressure to resign as leader of the Liberal Party before federal elections that must be held before late October.
His popularity has plummeted in recent years as Canada faces a range of challenges, from a housing crisis to soaring costs of living. Polls showed the Liberals far behind the opposition Conservative Party heading into the 2025 elections.
This week, several Liberal MPs publicly called on the prime minister to step down after Freeland’s resignation, but many have continued to stand by Trudeau despite the mounting pressure.
Trudeau, right, shakes hands with then-US President Trump at the G7 summit in France in 2019 [Carlos Barria/Reuters]The Globe and Mail reported on Thursday that the prime minister was holding discussions with senior cabinet members and party leaders about his future.
Quoting three unnamed sources familiar with the matter, the newspaper said Trudeau won’t make a decision until early in the new year about whether he plans to step down or stay on as leader.
Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers have been urging Trudeau to resign or call elections.
On Friday, the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) – which until September had been propping up the Liberal minority government – said it would put forward a no-confidence motion to bring down the government when the Canadian Parliament reconvenes in late January.
“Justin Trudeau failed in the biggest job a Prime Minister has: to work for people, not the powerful. To focus on Canadians, not themselves,” NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said in a statement shared on social media on Friday.
“The Liberals don’t deserve another chance. That’s why the NDP will vote to bring this government down, and give Canadians a chance to vote for a government who will work for them,” he continued.
“No matter who is leading the Liberal Party, this government’s time is up. We will put forward a clear motion of non-confidence in the next sitting of the House of Commons.”
If all the opposition parties vote in favour of the motion, Trudeau’s government will fall and elections will be scheduled.
Justin Trudeau failed in the biggest job a Prime Minister has: to work for people, not the powerful.
The NDP will vote to bring this government down, and give Canadians a chance to vote for a government who will work for them. pic.twitter.com/uqklF6RrUX
— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) December 20, 2024
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