Meet the new faces in Prime Minister Trudeau's cabinet

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shook up his front bench on Wednesday, dropping seven veteran cabinet ministers and replacing them with seven rookies.

One of the new faces is from Quebec and one is from B.C. The other five are from Ontario; four are from GTA ridings. Their appointments match the regional representation of the seven MPs no longer in cabinet.

Trudeau gave some big responsibilities and key portfolios to cabinet novices. MP Arif Virani, for example, is the new justice minister and attorney general; he takes over the file from outgoing minister David Lametti.

Virani, who represents Parkdale-High Park in Ontario, has been an MP since the Trudeau Liberals first came to power in 2015. He has been a parliamentary secretary to a number of ministers since then, including his predecessor at justice.

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At Issue | Justin Trudeau has overhauled his cabinet in one of his most significant shuffles since becoming prime minister. What was Trudeau trying to accomplish with the moves, and will it work?

Virani has served on a number of key committees, including special joint committees examining medical assistance in dying (MAID) and the government's use of the Emergencies Act during the 2022 convoy protests.

As a parliamentary secretary, Virani voted with most MPs in favour of a motion to declare China's treatment of its Uyghur population a genocide. All cabinet ministers abstained from that vote.

Asked if his promotion to cabinet had changed his position on the plight of Uyghurs, Virani told reporters he thinks the situation is "serious" but stopped short of calling it a genocide.

"The legal threshold is quite high for proving genocide. That doesn't mean that investigations shouldn't take place," he said, adding that he wants international bodies like the UN to investigate the situation.

Virani came to Canada as a refugee from Uganda in 1972, when the country's then-president Idi Amin expelled Uganda's Indian minority.

Prior to running for office, Virani worked as a human rights lawyer and served as an assistant trial attorney prosecuting genocide at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Ontario MP Ya'ara Saks is another cabinet newcomer from the GTA. The MP for York Centre replaces Carolyn Bennett as minister of mental health and addictions and associate minister of health. Bennett announced this week she won't be seeking re–election after serving an MP for 26 years.

Saks is a relatively new MP. She was first elected in an October 2020 by-election.

Following the 2021 general election, Saks was named parliamentary secretary to the minister of families, children and social development.

Prior to her election, Saks was a co-owner of a yoga studio and director of a mental health charity.

In her new ministerial role — itself a new portfolio created after the 2021 election — Saks will be tasked with addressing Canada's opioid crisis and overseeing the establishment of the 988 suicide prevention hotline, which is expected to come this fall.

Gary Anandasangaree, MP for Scarborough Rouge Park, will be the new minister for Crown-Indigenous relations. He takes over the file from Marc Miller, who has been moved to the immigration, refugees and citizenship portfolio.

Like Virani, Anandasangaree was first elected in 2015 and has served as a parliamentary secretary to the justice minister. He also sat on the Indigenous and northern affairs House committee.

Anandasangaree led the government's charge to develop a national anti-racism strategy when he was parliamentary secretary to the minister of heritage and multiculturalism.

The Ontario MP arrived in Canada as a refugee from Sri Lanka in 1983. Prior to his election, he worked as a human rights lawyer and with a number of community organizations, including as a member of the Toronto Police Chief's Advisory Council.

Speaking with reporters following the swearing-in ceremony, Anandasangaree said his experience as a refugee offers him a unique perspective on the government's relationship with Indigenous peoples.

"What I bring here is that lived experience of what survival means, what going through oppression and colonialism means," he said.

Former Ottawa city councillor Jenna Sudds will be the new minister of families, children and social development. She replaces Karina Gould, who was shuffled into the role of government House leader.

Sudds won her Kanata-Carleton seat in the last general election. Before joining cabinet, Sudds was parliamentary secretary to Minister of Women and Gender Equality Marci Ien.

Sudds was elected as a city councillor in 2018 and made a name for herself fighting the redevelopment of the old Kanata Lakes Golf and Country Club — an open space community members have used for recreational purposes for decades.

Prior to entering elected politics, Sudds worked as an economist for the federal government and in the private sector. She is also a founding member of the Kanata North Business Association.

Terry Beech is the lone new minister from B.C. He takes on the newly created role of minister of citizens' services.

The MP for Burnaby North-Seymour was first elected when the Liberals took power in 2015. Since then he has held a number of parliamentary secretary roles, most recently to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Beech has been involved in politics for a long time — he was elected as a city councillor in Nanaimo, B.C. when he was just 18. He also established a non-profit to help students access post-secondary scholarships.

The government says Beech will be responsible for Service Canada and the new portfolio will cover any services the federal government provides directly to Canadians, such as passport applications and employment insurance. The B.C. government has a similar cabinet role.

Quebec MP Soraya Martinez Ferrada has been named minister of tourism and minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for Quebec Regions.

Ferrada, who represents the riding of Hochelaga, was first elected in the 2019 election and has been a parliamentary secretary since then, most recently for the minister of housing.

Ferrada and her family came to Canada in the 1980s after fleeing Chile, then controlled by dictator Augusto Pinochet.

She served as a city councillor in Montreal and was chief of staff to Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly when Joly was still the minister of heritage.

Ontario MP Rechie Valdez is the new minister of small business, taking over a portfolio previously under Minister of International Trade and Export Promotion Mary Ng.

The MP for Mississauga-Streetsville was first elected in 2021 and is the only new minister who hasn't held a parliamentary secretary position.

Valdez told reporters Wednesday that she has been advocating to make small business its own portfolio since she was elected.

"[I'm] super excited to be here and support small businesses," she said.

The Prime Minister's Office says Valdez is the first Filipino-Canadian woman elected to the House of Commons and the first to sit in cabinet.

Prior to her election, Valdez worked as a corporate banker and television host. She also ran a bakery in Mississauga specializing in Filipino desserts.