A cabinet shuffle is expected on Friday, capping off a chaotic week for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals that saw two ministers step down.
Trudeau is scheduled to participate in a swearing-in ceremony for the new ministers at 11:30 a.m. eastern at Rideau Hall.
This comes after Chrystia Freeland, in a surprise announcement on Monday, resigned as the finance minister on the same day she was supposed to present the fall economic statement.
In her letter addressed to Trudeau, Freeland noted that in recent weeks, she has found herself increasingly “at odds” with the prime minister.
Dominic LeBlanc, who is the current public safety minister and also leads intergovernmental affairs, was named by Trudeau as the new finance minister on Monday.
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Ottawa-area MP David McGuinty — the brother of former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty — will be sworn in as the new public safety minister, Global News has learned.
Toronto-area MP Nate Erskine-Smith, who has said he does not plan to run again, will be the new housing minister, according to three sources.
He will take the place of Sean Fraser, the previous housing minister, who announced on Monday he was stepping down from the cabinet for family reasons.
The House has risen for the holidays, but a cabinet meeting will also take place Friday afternoon.
Questions have been swirling about Trudeau’s own future, with slumping popularity in polls and growing calls from his own party members and the opposition to step down.
According to an Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News and released this week, Trudeau’s personal popularity has gone down five percentage points, with only 23 per cent overall saying they think he deserves re-election, and 77 per cent saying they think it’s time for a new party to take over.
Meanwhile, Liberal support has also dropped five points, down to 21 per cent, since September and is now tied with the New Democratic Party.
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