Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to shuffle his cabinet Wednesday morning as issues continue to dog his Liberal government.
The cabinet shuffle would come at a time when a recent Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News in July suggested 37 per cent of Canadians said they would vote for Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party if an election was held right now – a four-point jump since February.
The Liberals would fall behind with 32 per cent of votes, which is one point lower than they got four months ago.
Trudeau is scheduled to participate in a swearing-in ceremony of ministry members at 10:30 a.m. Eastern in Ottawa, and is anticipated to speak to reporters at 12:15 p.m.
Since 2019, the Liberals and the Conservatives have been “locked in a logjam,” but that poll marked the first time that Ipsos polling has shown either side being able to really break out, Darrell Bricker, global CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs, previously told Global News.
He said the poll was reflecting “fatigue” with the Liberal government more so than growing support for the Conservatives.
Trudeau last shuffled his cabinet in August 2022, moving Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas MP Filomena Tassi to Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario from public services and procurement. Markham—Stouffville MP Helena Jaczek was named her replacement as public services and procurement minister.
The shuffle was at Tassi’s request to be closer to home due to family reasons, the Prime Minister’s Office said at the time.
Since that shuffle, the issues that have plagued the government included passport and airline delays, suspected Chinese foreign interference, cost of living, gun control, heightened geopolitical tensions amid the invasion of Ukraine and Chinese posturing over Taiwan.
To add to that, controversy has engulfed Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino over his office’s handling of the transfer of notorious serial killer and rapist Paul Bernardo.
Officials have struggled to explain why Mendicino and Trudeau said they were not informed until the day Bernardo’s transfer to a medium-security facility occurred, and the day after, respectively, despite their offices knowing about the possibility for months.
The Conservative Party has called on Mendicino to resign or for Trudeau to fire him over the issue, arguing it was part of a pattern of mismanagement regarding important public safety matters.
A review into Bernardo’s transfer found Correctional Service Canada’s decision to be “sound,” and that the killer will remain in the medium-security prison for the foreseeable future.
Trudeau has put an emphasis on gender parity in cabinet along with linguistic and regional representation.
His first cabinet made international headlines for having an equal number of men and women in ministerial positions.
Asked to explain why he did so at the time, Trudeau famously said: “Because it’s 2015.”
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.