Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to shuffle his cabinet on Tuesday.
The shuffle will address those in cabinet who say they do not plan on running again in the next federal election, sources told Global News.
Sources said Navdeep Bains, who has served as Canada’s minister of innovation, science and industry since 2019, will not run again in the next election and will no longer be in cabinet.
Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is expected to replace Bains.
Transport Minister Marc Garneau is expected to be shuffled in to replace Champagne at Global Affairs Canada, sources said.
Omar Alghabra who currently serves as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of International Trade Diversification is expected to assume the role of transport minister, according to the sources.
The federal Liberals found themselves 13 seats shy of the 170 needed to form a majority after the 2019 federal election.
This means the government could be toppled if the opposition parties unite against it — potentially after the next budget in the spring, the first since the COVID-19 pandemic sent the federal deficit skyrocketing.
Trudeau has been clear that critical portfolios need to be overseen by ministers who intend to be around for the long haul and who can sell the government’s agenda during the next election campaign.
The last federal cabinet shuffle took place in August, after then-finance minister Bill Morneau stepped down amid the WE Charity scandal.
He also resigned as MP for Toronto Centre.
Dominic LeBlanc assumed her intergovernmental affairs portfolio.
-With files from The Canadian Press
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