Who are the new members of Prime Minister Trudeau's cabinet?
Trudeau shuffled his front bench on Friday in wake of Chrystia Freeland's resignation
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has named eight new members to his cabinet as he continues to face pressure to step down.
Friday's shuffle comes after Chrystia Freeland resigned as deputy prime minister and finance minister, spurring an emboldened movement within the Liberal caucus to push the prime minister out of the leadership chair.
One senior government source told CBC News the timing and size of the shuffle should not be taken as a signal that the prime minister has made up his mind about his future, adding Trudeau is still "reflecting" on his position.
The purpose of the shuffle is to make sure the cabinet is complete so the government can function properly, the source said.
Here are some of the new faces tapped to join what could be Trudeau's last cabinet.
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith
Toronto-area MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith is taking over as minister of housing.
Erskine-Smith was elected when the Liberals first formed government in 2015. Since then, he's gained a reputation as a backbencher who isn't afraid to disagree with — or vote against — his own party.
The new minister has disagreed with the government on electoral reform and expressed doubt about its use of the Emergencies Act. He also has pushed his party to move further on policies related to animal welfare and drug legalization.
Last year, Erskine-Smith ran a failed bid for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party. He came in second behind Bonnie Crombie after three rounds of voting.
Erskine-Smith announced earlier this year that he wouldn't run for re-election, but that appears to have changed with this appointment.
David McGuinty
David McGuinty, the MP for Ottawa-South, joins cabinet as the minister of public safety.
McGuinty comes into the ministerial role after serving as the first chair of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP).
That committee dropped a bombshell report on foreign interference earlier this year that said a number of parliamentarians were "'semi-witting or witting' participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in our politics."
In multiple reports, NSICOP also has called on the Liberal government to do more to address foreign interference.
McGuinty was first elected in 2004; this is his first cabinet appointment. His brother Dalton McGuinty Jr. is a former Ontario premier and his father Dalton McGuinty Sr. was an MPP.
Rachel Bendayan
Montreal MP Rachel Bendayan has been tapped as minister of official languages and associate minister of public safety.
First elected in 2019, Bendayan has served as Freeland's parliamentary secretary for the past year. Her promotion to cabinet follows Trudeau's pattern of elevating the finance minister's parliamentary secretaries to the front bench — Sean Fraser, François-Philippe Champagne and Ginette Petitpas Taylor all served in that role before becoming ministers.
Bendayan first ran in 2015 but lost to then-NDP leader Thomas Mulcair. She worked as a Liberal staffer before winning the seat in a 2019 byelection.
Bendayan has been a vocal supporter of the Liberals' recent gun control measures. École Polytechnique de Montréal — the location of the 1989 Montreal massacre — is in her riding. She was part of the government's recent press conference announcing the addition of hundreds of firearms to its list of banned weapons.
A lawyer by trade, Bendayan previously taught at Université de Montréal's law school.
Ruby Sahota
Brampton MP Ruby Sahota has been named minister of democratic institutions and minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.
First elected in 2015, Sahota had been serving as the Liberal whip and previously had been deputy whip.
Sahota is a member of a number of parliamentary associations and interparliamentary groups, including the NATO parliamentary association and the Canada-U.S. interparliamentary group.
Sahota's promotion to cabinet means Trudeau will need to name a new whip — a caucus management role — at a time of growing discontent in the Liberal ranks.
Terry Duguid
Terry Duguid will be Manitoba's new representative at the cabinet table.
The MP for Winnipeg South was named the minister of sport and minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada.
A former Winnipeg city councillor, Duguid was first elected as an MP in 2015. He's held a number of parliamentary secretary positions, most recently to the prime minister himself.
A long-time environmentalist, Duguid also served as an adviser to Trudeau on water issues.
In the past, Duguid served as a chairman of the Manitoba Clean Environment Commission and executive director of the Manitoba Climate Change Task Force.
Darren Fisher
Dartmouth-Cole Harbour MP Darren Fisher will be representing Nova Scotia in Trudeau's cabinet after Sean Fraser announced earlier this week that he would not seek re-election.
Fisher is the new minister of veterans affairs and associate minister of national defence.
A former member of the Halifax regional council, Fisher was first elected to the House of Commons in 2015.
Like McGuinty, Fisher was a member of NSICOP. Prior to joining that committee, he held a number of parliamentary secretary roles.
Fisher was a small business owner before entering politics, according to his website.
Joanne Thompson
Joanne Thompson, the MP for St. John's East, has become the new minister of seniors.
Thompson is a relatively new MP; she won her seat in the last federal election in 2021. She comes to her new role after serving as the national chair of the Liberals' seniors caucus.
A registered nurse, Thompson has a history of volunteer work. She was the executive director of The Gathering Place, a health centre that serves vulnerable populations in downtown St. John's.
Élisabeth Brière
Élisabeth Brière, the MP for Sherbooke, Que., is another parliamentary secretary who received a promotion on Friday.
Brière will take over as minister of national revenue, a file that — under Trudeau — has been held by two other Quebecers: Diane Lebouthillier and Marie-Claude Bibeau.
Since first being elected in 2019, Brière has held a number of parliamentary secretary roles. Most recently she has been pulling double-duty as parliamentary secretary to the minister of families and to the minister of mental health and addictions.
Prior to joining politics, she worked at a law firm in Sherbrooke.
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