Anita Anand to take on Transport Canada in imminent cabinet shuffle

Treasury Board President Anita Anand took on the additional responsibilities of transport minister in a cabinet shuffle Thursday.

Anand was officially sworn in at a ceremony at Rideau Hall, which was led by the Governor General of Canada Mary Simon and included John Hannaford, the clerk of the Privy Council.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled part of his cabinet after Pablo Rodriguez, the transport minister and the Liberals’ Quebec lieutenant, announced he was quitting to enter the race to become the leader of the provincial Liberal Party.

In addition to her new responsibilities, Anand will keep her current role.

Procurement Minister Jean Yves Duclos will take over as the Liberals’ Quebec lieutenant.

Rodriguez has said he will sit as an independent member of Parliament, representing Honoré-Mercier, until the launch of the leadership campaign next January “to avoid a costly byelection a few weeks or months before a general election.”

Rodriguez’s decision to step down from the Trudeau cabinet comes just days after the government lost a stronghold riding to the Bloc Québécois in LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. Earlier this year, the Liberals faced a blow after losing the riding of Toronto—St. Paul’s to the Conservatives.

The move also comes two months after the minister of labour and seniors, Seamus O’Regan, stepped down from cabinet.

Rodriguez said the official launch of his campaign will take place “in the coming weeks.” First elected in 2004, Rodriguez has served as minister of Canadian heritage and as Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.