Federal cabinet ministers Philomena Tassi, Carla Qualtlov and Dan Vandal announced on Thursday that they would not stand for re-election.
Senior government officials told CTV News that at least one other candidate, Marie-Claude Bibeau, is not planning to run again and Justin Trudeau is set to reshuffle his cabinet in the coming weeks.
Amid growing opposition within the party caucus, the three cabinet ministers expressed their support and gratitude to the prime minister in a statement confirming their plan not to repropose the proposal.
“The reasons I have made this decision are deeply personal. It’s time to be closer to my family and home,” Tassi, the federal economic development minister for Southern Ontario, wrote. There is. 2 page statement Posted on social media. “This is a tough decision.”
Mr Qualtlov, who has held a series of cabinet positions and is currently the Minister of Sports, He said it was “mixed emotions”. She recently told Prime Minister Trudeau of her decision not to run for office again.
“It’s time to move on and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next,” she said.
Vandal, who currently heads Northern Affairs, said he has informed Trudeau of his “difficult” decision not to run “in 2025, or whenever the next election is held.”
“We are working with the Prime Minister’s Office to ensure an orderly transition of power,” he said in a statement to CTV News. In the statement, Vandal said he “fully” supports Prime Minister Trudeau’s continued leadership.
Mr. Bibeau, who is currently the national revenue minister, plans to run for mayor of Sherbrooke, Kenya, according to people familiar with the matter.
All four were first elected in 2015, and both Mr. Qualtrov and Mr. Bibeau have served in the cabinet since then. Tassi joined the Cabinet in 2017 and Vandal in 2019.
Mr. Trudeau’s loss of these cabinet ministers comes as multiple sources tell CTV News that a group of Liberal MPs have urged Mr. Trudeau at next Wednesday’s caucus to resign before the next election in the interest of the party. It all started when I told them that I planned to ask them to do so.
Other prominent Liberals have also recently joined the cabinet, including former Transport Minister and Quebec deputy Pablo Rodriguez, who left the party to run for leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, and former Labor minister Seamus O’Regan, who resigned for personal reasons. He has resigned since. .
In anticipation of a major reshuffle on the Liberal frontline this fall, CTV News surveyed all cabinet ministers two weeks ago about their plans for the next federal election.
In response, all ministries except for Mr. Bibeau and Trade Minister Mary Ng, including the offices of Mr. Tassi, Mr. Qualtlov and Mr. Vandal, responded that the minister intended to run again.
Bibeau’s office said at the time that the minister was undecided.
Ng’s office confirmed to CTV News on Thursday that she plans to run again.
In 2022, Mr Tassi was removed from his post as Procurement Minister due to family reasons and his desire to spend more time at home.
She replaced former minister Helena Jacek, who has since been completely removed from the cabinet, and is one of more than a dozen current Liberal MPs who have announced in the past year that they will not run again.
The next federal election is scheduled for October 2025, but there is speculation that the Conservative Party will retest its confidence in Prime Minister Trudeau and withdraw the writ early amid uncertainty over how long Quebec and the NDP will accept the election. It has increased in recent weeks. Supporting the prime minister’s beleaguered minority government.
With files from CTV News Chief Political Correspondent Vassie Kapelos and CTV Question Period Senior Producer Brennan McDonald
