Two more Liberal cabinet ministers have announced they are not going to be seeking re-election, as sources tell Global News a federal cabinet shuffle is expected on Wednesday.
Both Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek made announcements on Twitter Tuesday morning.
“After almost 11 years as a member of Parliament, two and a half years as a minister and six elections, I’ve made the difficult decision to not run in the next election,” Alghabra said in a video address.
“As a result of this decision, I am also stepping aside as my role as minister because the prime minister deserves a cabinet that is committed to running in the next federal campaign.”
Alghabra adds that he will finish off his term as MP for Mississauga Centre.
He became the transportation minister in January 2021, his first and only role in cabinet.
In that time, Alghabra was faced with several high-profile challenges — most notably major delay issues at airports last summer and over the holiday season and most recently, a strike at the Port of Vancouver causing significant disruptions in Canada’s supply chain.
It’s estimated the 13-day work stoppage cost the economy $500 million daily and created a shipping backlog that will take months to clear.
Fellow Ontario MP and political veteran Jaczek tweeted the upcoming end of her time in federal politics the same morning.
“After 50 years of public service as a family doctor, Regional Medical Of Health and Commissioner of Health Services, Member of Provincial Parliament, and now Member of Parliament for Markham-Stouffville, I have decided that I will not seek re-election after my current term,” Jaczek tweeted.
In the thread, Jaczek goes on to thank her constituents for their support and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for naming her to two cabinet portfolios.
Prior to becoming procurement minister in the last cabinet shuffle in August 2022, Jaczek served as the minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, first appointed in October 2021.
Jaczek entered federal politics in the 2019 election, defeating the former Liberal Jane Philpott, who had been removed from caucus and was running as an independent following the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
On Monday, Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett announced she would also not seek re-election at the end of her current term.
Bennett has been in cabinet since the beginning of the Trudeau government, first being named Crown-Indigenous relations minister. She held that role until 2021, when she moved to her current portfolio.
She also served as a member of former prime minister Paul Martin’s cabinet as minister of state for public health from 2003 to 2006.
The expected shuffle comes as the government is facing serious pressure on the cost of living, specifically housing prices, along with intense scrutiny over the medium-security prison transfer of serial killer and rapist Paul Bernardo and its handling of foreign interference.
— with a file from Global’s Mackenzie Gray.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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