More Trudeau cabinet ministers not running for re-election, sources say shuffle expected soon
Federal cabinet ministers Filomena Tassi, Carla Qualtrough, and Dan Vandal announced Thursday they will not run for re-election.
Senior government sources tell 麻豆影视 at least one other 鈥 Marie-Claude Bibeau 鈥 doesn't plan to run again, setting the stage for Justin Trudeau to shuffle his cabinet in the coming weeks.
Coming amid growing dissent within his caucus, in statements confirming their plans to not re-offer, the three ministers expressed their support of and gratitude to the prime minister.
鈥淢y reason for making this decision is deeply personal 鈥 it鈥檚 time for me to be closer to home with my family,鈥 wrote Tassi, the minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, in a posted on social media. 鈥淭his is a bittersweet decision."
Qualtrough, who has held a series of cabinet positions and is currently the minister for sport, said it was with "" that she recently told Trudeau about her decision to not run again.
"It is time to move on, and I am excited to see what comes next," she said.
Vandal, who currently holds the northern affairs portfolio, said he also has told Trudeau of his "difficult" decision to not run in 2025 "or whenever the next election is called."
"I am working with the Prime Minister's Office to ensure an orderly transition," he said in a statement sent to 麻豆影视. In it, Vandal states he "fully" supports Trudeau's continued leadership.
Bibeau, who is currently the national revenue minister, plans to run for mayor of Sherbrooke, Que., according to sources.
All four were first elected in 2015, with both Qualtrough and Bibeau serving in cabinet since then. Tassi joined cabinet in 2017, and Vandal in 2019.
Trudeau losing these ministers comes as multiple that a group of Liberal MPs plan to ask him at next Wednesday鈥檚 caucus meeting to step aside before the next election, for the good of the party.
Other high-profile Liberals have also recently stepped down from cabinet, including former transport minister and Quebec lieutenant Pablo Rodriguez, who left to run for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party, and former labour minister Seamus O鈥橰egan, who quit for personal reasons.
Anticipating a larger rearrangement of the Liberal front bench this fall, two weeks ago 麻豆影视 surveyed all cabinet ministers about their plans for the next federal election.
Every office responded saying that their minister intended to run again 鈥 including Tassi, Qualtrough, and Vandal's offices 鈥 with the exception of Bibeau, and Trade Minister Mary Ng.
Bibeau鈥檚 office responded that at the time, the minister was undecided.
Ng's office confirmed to 麻豆影视 on Thursday that she does plan to run again.
In an interview on 麻豆影视 Channel's Power Play, host Vassy Kapelos asked Tassi what changed in the last two weeks.
Tassi said that she's been having conversations about whether she'd run again with the prime minister over "the last few months," and though it's "an emotional day," she believes she's made the right decision.
"You're running until you're not, right? And today's the day that I have announced that I'm not running," she said. "I had confidence in the prime minister in 2015, and I have confidence in him today."
Asked whether the ministerial announcements were coordinated, Tassi said she had been in conversation with the PMO and "heard yesterday evening that it would be fine if I release my statement."
In 2022, Tassi was moved out of the procurement minister portfolio at her request, stating then that she wanted to spend more time at home, for family reasons.
She swapped roles with former minister Helena Jaczek, who has since been shuffled out of cabinet entirely, and is among the more than a dozen current Liberal MPs that have announced in the last year or so that they aren't running again.
The next federal election is scheduled for October 2025, though speculation of an early writ drop has increased in recent weeks, amid recurring Conservative tests in the House of Commons of Trudeau's confidence, and uncertainty around how long the Bloc Quebecois and NDP will be willing to prop up the prime minister's embattled minority government.
"The Liberal party's prospects are not that great. So, there's a high likelihood that many, if not all of these cabinet ministers could lose their seats if the polls hold until the next election," said Abacus Data's David Coletto.
"So, I think this is just indicative of a government that's in the later stages of its life, and it's bound to lose some senior people."
Coletto said that while a cabinet shuffle alone will likely not be sufficient to overcome the hurdles the federal Liberals are facing or turn around their polling numbers, it could be the start of an effort to signal to Canadians that Trudeau's government will change direction.
"It may be an opportunity, at least, for the prime minister to give it one last go," he said.
With files from 麻豆影视 Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos and CTV鈥檚 Question Period Senior Producer Brennan MacDonald
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government鈥檚 three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party鈥檚 popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn鈥檛 be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
W5 Investigates You donated clothing to needy Canadians. So how did it end up in Africa?
In the first of a four-part investigation into the seedy underbelly of the lucrative clothing donation bin industry, CTV W5 puts a spotlight on how some of the clothes Canadians donate to charity end up in markets in Africa.
Tropical Storm Oscar swirls toward the Bahamas after hitting Cuba as a hurricane
Tropical Storm Oscar chugged toward the Bahamas on Tuesday after making landfall in Cuba as a Category 1 hurricane, killing at least six people as it unleashed heavy rains on an island also hit by an unrelated massive power outage.
A Toronto woman said the cost of parking to visit her mother in hospital, and later in long term care, for 15 months was a financial burden she feels she shouldn鈥檛 have had to pay.
Woman wedged upside down between rocks for 7 hours after trying to retrieve her phone
A woman who tried to retrieve her lost phone from between boulders in Australia鈥檚 Hunter Valley became stuck upside down for seven hours before she was rescued earlier this month.
Ontario Provincial Police charged an impaired Vermont man who illegally crossed the border into Canada and thought he was still in the United States.
Italian surfer dies after being impaled by fish off the coast of Indonesia
An Italian surfer has died after being impaled in the chest by a sharp-billed fish while surfing off Indonesia鈥檚 West Sumatra coast.
Huge ransoms paid out by some Canadian businesses amid rising cyberattacks: StatCan
Some businesses paid a ransom of more than $500,000 after a cyberattack last year, new Statistics Canada data revealed.
Initial report shows Liam Payne had cocaine in his system when he died, says Argentine official
An initial toxicology report for ex-One Direction singer Liam Payne, who died last week after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, showed that he had cocaine in his system after his death, an Argentine official said.
A giant meteorite boiled the oceans 3.2 billion years ago, but provided a 'fertilizer bomb' for life
A massive space rock, estimated to be the size of four Mount Everests, slammed into Earth more than 3 billion years ago 鈥 and the impact could have been unexpectedly beneficial for the earliest forms of life on our planet, according to new research.
Local Spotlight
A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.
A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.
Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.
Looking for a scare with good intentions this Halloween season? The ghosts and ghouls of Eganville, Ont. invite families to tour the Haunted Walk at Lekbor Manor.
The image of a sleepy Saskatchewan small town with 'not a lot going on' is a well-known anecdote. However, one Saskatchewan company is hoping to change that 鈥 and allow communities both on and off the beaten path to share their stories and advertise what they have to offer.
A Moncton, N.B., home has been donated to the Friends of The Moncton Hospital Foundation and will be transformed into a resource hub for people living with cancer.
A Nova Scotia man crossing Canada on foot is passing through southwestern Ontario. Trevor Redmond is perhaps better known as the 鈥楩ellow in Yellow.鈥
John Cantin vividly remembers opening day for his Victoria diner. Stress levels were high, tables were full, and one of the most popular menu items couldn鈥檛 be freed from the unyielding grip of the waffle maker.
A Manitoba professor is warning the public after a book on regional mushrooms that he suspects is AI-generated was delisted from Amazon.