Nova Scotia MPs Lena Metlege Diab, Sean Fraser named to Carney's cabinet
Metlege Diab named minister of immigration, Fraser named minister of justice
Two Nova Scotia MPs have been named to Prime Minister Mark Carney's new cabinet.
Lena Metlege Diab, MP for Halifax West, will be the new minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship.
Central Nova MP Sean Fraser will be the new minister of justice and attorney general of Canada, and the minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
Lori Turnbull, chair of the public and international affairs department in Dalhousie University's faculty of management, told CBC's Mainstreet Halifax on Tuesday that Metlege Diab's new role will come with challenges.
Metlege Diab was Nova Scotia's immigration minister from 2013 to 2021 but Turnbull said it's a very difficult file at the federal level. She noted the Liberals took heat for increasing immigration levels when housing construction was not able to keep pace with population growth.
Metlege Diab "has a tough project, for sure," Turnbull said.
Fraser initially said he wouldn't reoffer in last month's election so he could devote more time to his family, but he was asked by Carney to come back.
"Fraser had made, I think, a lot of effort into saying, 'Look, I'm not leaving because Trudeau is going to lose, I'm leaving because I want to spend time with my family.' And so I think Carney must have come back to him with some version of, 'Look, you know, I'll make this right for you' kind of thing," Turnbull said.
She said Fraser was in the best position to win Central Nova for the Liberals, especially after the riding's boundaries were redrawn.
"So for Fraser to take it on was much better for the Liberals, I think, than not. And so he's being rewarded. And clearly, Carney has faith in him," she said.
Fraser previously served as minister of housing, infrastructure and communities and as the minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship in Justin Trudeau's cabinet.
Diab and Fraser were among the 28 ministers being sworn in at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Tuesday.
Kody Blois, the MP for Kings-Hants, who was appointed minister of agriculture and agri-food and rural economic development by Carney in March, is no longer in cabinet. That position will now be filled by Prince Edward Island MP Heath MacDonald.
Newfoundland and Labrador MP Joanne Thompson, meanwhile, is staying on as the minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard after first being appointed in March.
