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explainer

Mélanie Joly’s move to foreign affairs, Anita Anand’s to defence and Steven Guilbeault’s to climate policy are just some of the major shifts in the Liberals’ lineup. Here’s what you need to know

Open this photo in gallery:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, middle, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland, second from left, and Governor-General Mary May Simon, second from right, pose with members of the federal cabinet after a swearing in ceremony at Rideau Hall.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press


Overview

There are 38 ministers in the federal cabinet that Governor-General Mary May Simon swore into office on Tuesday at Rideau Hall. Some MPs who served as ministers in the previous Parliament lost their seats in September’s election. In order to fill gaps, maintain gender balance and install new leadership in important posts, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau added several new faces. Six women joined the cabinet, as well Randy Boissonnault, one of only two Liberals elected federally in Alberta.

Minister

New role

Previous position

Economic Development

and Official Languages

Mélanie

Joly

Foreign Affairs

Public Services and

Procurement

Anita

Anand

Defence

Environment and

Climate Change

Steven

Guilbeault

Canadian Heritage

Patty

Hajdu

Indigenous Services

Health

Environment and

Climate Change

Jonathan

Wilkinson

Natural Resources

Crown-Indigenous

Relations

Marc

Miller

Indigenous Services

Mental Health and

Addictions

Crown-Indigenous

Relations

Carolyn

Bennett

President of the

Treasury Board

Jean-Yves

Duclos

Health

Marco

Mendicino

Public Safety

Immigration

Public Safety

and Emergency

Preparedness

Emergency Preparedness,

President of the Queen’s

Privy Council for Canada

 

Bill

Blair

International

Development

Harjit

Sajjan

Defence

Families, Children and

Social Development

International

development

Karina

Gould

bill curry and john sopinski/THE GLOBE AND MAIl

SOURCE: government of canada photos: the

canadian press

Minister

New role

Previous position

Economic Development

and Official Languages

Mélanie

Joly

Foreign Affairs

Public Services and

Procurement

Anita

Anand

Defence

Environment and

Climate Change

Steven

Guilbeault

Canadian Heritage

Patty

Hajdu

Indigenous Services

Health

Environment and

Climate Change

Jonathan

Wilkinson

Natural Resources

Crown-Indigenous

Relations

Marc

Miller

Indigenous Services

Mental Health and

Addictions

Crown-Indigenous

Relations

Carolyn

Bennett

President of the

Treasury Board

Jean-Yves

Duclos

Health

Marco

Mendicino

Public Safety

Immigration

Public Safety

and Emergency

Preparedness

Emergency Preparedness,

President of the Queen’s

Privy Council for Canada

 

Bill

Blair

International

Development

Harjit

Sajjan

Defence

Families, Children and

Social Development

International

development

Karina

Gould

bill curry and john sopinski/THE GLOBE AND MAIl

SOURCE: government of canada photos: the

canadian press

Minister

New role

Previous position

Economic Development

and Official Languages

Mélanie

Joly

Foreign Affairs

Public Services and

Procurement

Anita

Anand

Defence

Environment and

Climate Change

Steven

Guilbeault

Canadian Heritage

Patty

Hajdu

Indigenous Services

Health

Environment and

Climate Change

Jonathan

Wilkinson

Natural Resources

Crown-Indigenous

Relations

Marc

Miller

Indigenous Services

Mental Health and

Addictions

Crown-Indigenous

Relations

Carolyn

Bennett

President of the

Treasury Board

Jean-Yves

Duclos

Health

Marco

Mendicino

Public Safety

Immigration

Emergency Preparedness,

President of the Queen’s

Privy Council for Canada

 

Public Safety

and Emergency

Preparedness

Bill

Blair

International

Development

Harjit

Sajjan

Defence

Families, Children and

Social Development

International

development

Karina

Gould

bill curry and john sopinski/THE GLOBE AND MAIl

SOURCE: government of canada photos: the canadian press


Open this photo in gallery:

Mélanie Joly is congratulated by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after her swearing-in to the foreign affairs post.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Foreign policy

Mélanie Joly arrives at Foreign Affairs during a shift in relations between the West and China. Canada and its allies are treating the Chinese Communist Party as more of a rival and less of a partner, and concern is growing about Beijing’s military and political influence in the Indo-Pacific, Steven Chase and Janice Dickson report:

Joly was asked whether China will face reprisals for having jailed Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for more than 1,000 days in what Ottawa once criticized as “hostage diplomacy,” but declined to say. She said she plans to meet with experts on China shortly. “I can tell you, however, that we have no illusions. Our eyes will be wide open.”

This will be Mr. Trudeau’s fifth foreign-affairs minister in six years. Ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, when The Globe and Mail reported that Marc Garneau was likely to be moved out of the job, columnist John Ibbitson opined about how the high turnover weakens an office that, in an era of weakening Western consensus, Chinese resurgence and changing alliances in global defence, needs to be made stronger:

The best way to forge a response to all of this would be to appoint a powerful minister of foreign affairs: somebody with the depth of experience to thoroughly overhaul the department, to thoroughly review and reform Canadian foreign policy and then to implement that policy, with the full backing of the Prime Minister. ... That is what the country’s foreign policy needs. Instead, we are likely to get more of the same under the next foreign minister, whoever that is, as if anybody cared.


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Anita Anand, right, arrives for the swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

Defence

Anita Anand now oversees a military that’s been reeling over allegations of sexual misconduct in its top ranks. Kristy Kirkup and Colin Freeze report that the Liberals began to regard Ms. Anand as a political star when, as Minister of Public Services and Procurement, she handled the acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines for Canada, which involved negotiating complex contracts with manufacturers:

Ms. Anand told reporters Tuesday that her top priority is to make sure that everyone in the Forces feels safe, protected and supported. She also pledged to put structures in place to ensure that “justice is served.” But she said it is important to remember that there is “no one magic solution” for sexual misconduct.


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Jean-Yves Duclos, right, and Carolyn Bennett are now ministers of Health and Mental Health and Addictions, respectively.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

Health

Jean-Yves Duclos, the former Treasury Board chief, takes the main health portfolio, replacing Patty Hajdu as the minister overseeing the COVID-19 response. But Mr. Trudeau created a new and separate post, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, to be held by outgoing Crown-Indigenous Relations minister Carolyn Bennett. Globe health columnist André Picard called the move a bold symbolic step, but symbolism is not enough:

During the recent federal election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised that, if re-elected, a Liberal government would invest $4.5-billion over five years to improve access to mental health care. He later said an annual transfer of mental health funds would become a permanent fixture. These are good, if modest, initiatives. But you don’t need a junior health minister just to deliver cheques. Ms. Bennett has some real challenges ahead of her beyond urging the provinces to improve access to psychological services.


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Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault speaks at a news conference on his swearing-in day.LARS HAGBERG/AFP via Getty Images

Environment

Days before the COP26 summit in Glasgow, the cabinet shuffle signals some big changes in direction on environment and climate change (now the purview of Steven Guilbeault) and natural resources (Jonathan Wilkinson). Globe columnist Adam Radwanski called Mr. Wilkinson’s assignment a “bold and probably necessary move” to take a tougher line with fossil-fuel industries, but the more polarizing person may be Mr. Guilbeault, who was an environmentalist before entering politics in 2019:

In some ways, the Environment Department should be an easy and natural fit, after a tumultuous first cabinet post at Heritage, where he struggled with an attempt to regulate the internet. He shouldn’t have much difficulty representing Canada on COP26′s international stage, despite minimal preparation time. He has been to plenty of that conference’s previous editions and can speak more knowledgeably on climate matters than many of his international counterparts who have been in their jobs longer. But he could struggle with the weight of expectations from climate activists excited to have one of their own in such a key role.


Open this photo in gallery:

Mr. Trudeau speaks with Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller after his swearing-in.BLAIR GABLE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Indigenous relations

After the federal government announced changes to two cabinet portfolios focused on Indigenous affairs, Indigenous leaders say they’re looking forward to working with the new ministers on reconciliation. Ontario MP Patty Hajdu was appointed as Minister of Indigenous Services, which is responsible for the delivery of services to communities, while Quebec MP Marc Miller will take over Crown-Indigenous Relations, report Kristy Kirkup and Willow Fiddler:

Lorraine Whitman, the president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, said all of the new ministers have shown compassion in their work at the federal level. “We are hopeful that spirit will continue as they take on their new jobs,” she said. “These appointments are good steps forward for reconciliation.”


Open this photo in gallery:

Mr. Trudeau and Governor-General Mary May Simon, right, pose with Pablo Rodriguez, the new Heritage Minister.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Heritage

Pablo Rodriguez returns to the helm of Canadian Heritage to take over much-needed updates to Canadian cultural policy, writes Globe arts critic Kate Taylor, and he inherits a handful of digital-regulation bills stalled in Parliament that would address harmful content and align Canadians’ data and privacy rights with jurisdictions such as Europe and California:

Canada’s once-enviable legal supports for domestic culture have been bypassed by the borderless digital giants – Netflix and Spotify know no Can-con rules – and, you’ll remember from previous episodes, [former Heritage minister Mélanie] Joly had raised expectations of a big fix with her big cultural-policy review. Yet, when she finally unveiled proposals, they turned out to be mere tweaks: The minister had failed to deliver. ... As Rodriguez returns to Heritage, Canada’s cultural producers are praying that he is the charm.


More reading

Campbell Clark: A cabinet for a prime minister taking risks on his legacy

Erin Gee: In Trudeau’s cabinets, women of colour are routinely overlooked

Lori Turnbull: What election? Trudeau’s cabinet shuffle signals a desire to get down to business as usual


Compiled by Globe staff

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