Long-time environmental activist Steven Guilbeault will be Canada’s next Minister of Environment and Climate Change, CBC News has confirmed.
Liberal sources told CBC News that Guilbeault, a longtime environmentalist who has worked with groups such as Equiterre and Greenpeace, will be transferred to the crucial portfolio from his previous job as heritage minister.
His appointment comes just days before the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) which will bring together leaders from around the world – including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – to discuss the climate crisis.
Harjit Sajjan, who served as Minister of National Defense amid a growing crisis of sexual misconduct in the military, is also expected to be among those heading to new jobs when Trudeau unveils the makeup of his next cabinet on Tuesday. .
Liberal sources told CBC News they expected a major cabinet reshuffle that will include the heads of several senior portfolios.
Health Minister Patty Hajdu, who took over the post just months before the pandemic, will also be transferred to a new job. There are plans to add a second subordinate minister to the health portfolio.
Two to three current ministers are expected to be removed from cabinet altogether, sources say.
The next cabinet will be sworn in on Tuesday morning in a ceremony at Rideau Hall.
Trudeau said the cabinet would have both gender parity and what he called “appropriate regional distribution.”
- Chief Political Correspondent Rosemary Barton will have full coverage of the Cabinet Trudeau swearing-in on Tuesday starting at 9 a.m. AND on CBC News Network, cbc.ca, CBC Gem and wherever you broadcast CBC News.
At least one high-ranking minister will retain his post. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has agreed to retain both roles, Trudeau said.
While Sajjan will no longer oversee the struggling Department of National Defense – now embroiled in a crisis of sexual misconduct within the military leadership – he is expected to remain in cabinet with a new portfolio.
Sajjan, a former army lieutenant colonel, has served as defense minister since 2015. The Conservatives and the NDP have called for his resignation on accusations he did not respond to the military’s sexual misconduct issues.
Trudeau is expected to select a woman as Canada’s next defense minister. Anita Anand, the current Minister of Public Services and Procurement, is considered one of the top candidates for the job.
Former Prime Minister Kim Campbell is the only woman to have served as Canada’s defense minister. She held the title for the first five months of 1993.
Anand raised his profile while leading Canada’s vaccine supply efforts during the pandemic.
Is it time for new faces?
Sources say Sean Fraser, who has represented Central Nova since 2015 but has never been in the cabinet, will likely be among those appointed to the cabinet tomorrow.
Marci Ien, the former CTV reporter who now represents Toronto Center, and Randy Boissonnault, who reclaimed the Edmonton Center riding after a loss in 2019, are also seen as the firm’s top prospects.
Pascale St-Onge, elected in Brome — Missisquoi, is considered one of the rare recruits with a chance of landing a ministerial post. St-Onge recently worked as a union leader in the cultural sector in Quebec.
The last version of the Liberal cabinet had 37 ministers, including Trudeau. When Trudeau took office in 2015, he appointed a 35-person firm. The cabinet was last reshuffled on January 12, 2021.
Trudeau’s commitment to gender parity and the loss of four female ministers may require many of the changes expected to be revealed tomorrow.
Ministers Maryam Monsef, Bernadette Jordan and Deb Schulte were all beaten in the last election.
Catherine McKenna, the current Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and former Minister of the Environment, did not seek re-election.
Other changes are also underway for senior staff in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Marjorie Michel and Brian Clow each become Deputy Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister. Michel, who was director of operations for the Liberal Party in Quebec during the 2019 and 2021 campaigns, will lead office operations, outreach, human resources and public appointments. It will also focus on Quebec files.
Clow will oversee parliamentary affairs, issue management, communications and policy teams and will continue to oversee global affairs and COVID-19.
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