Canada PM Trudeau to Shuffle Cabinet in Coming Weeks, Official Says

By Paul Vieira

OTTAWA--Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will make changes to his cabinet in the coming weeks as four ministers have informed the leader they don't intend to seek re-election, according to a government official.

The shuffle comes as Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party, is trailing his main opponent by about 20 percentage points in most public-opinion polls, and an election is required by law no later than October of next year. One Liberal lawmaker, Sean Casey, said this week Trudeau should step down because voters have tuned out the prime minister after nine years in power. Trudeau has repeatedly said he intends to stay on and seek a fourth term as prime minister.

Including the prime minister, the cabinet has 38 members. Representatives for Canada's Northern Affairs Minister, Dan Vandal, and the minister in charge of economic development in southern Ontario, Filomena Tassi, confirmed they won't be running for re-election. The official said Canada's Revenue Minister, Marie-Claude Bibeau, and Sport Minister Carla Qualtrough also would be leaving after the next election. Representatives for Bibeau and Qualtrough did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's French-language unit earlier reported the pending changes to Trudeau's cabinet.

In recent months, Trudeau also lost Seamus O'Reagan, the former labor minister, who said he wouldn't run again; and the former transport minister, Pablo Rodriguez, who is seeking the leadership of the Liberal Party of Quebec.

Write to Paul Vieira at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-17-24 1250ET