Trudeau promoting backbenchers in sizable cabinet shuffle coming Friday: sources

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is planning a sizable cabinet shuffle on Friday, and it's shaping up to see several Liberal backbenchers promoted to ministerial posts, sources confirm to CTV News.

The long-awaited reconfiguration of Trudeau's front bench comes amid turmoil for the Liberal government after the shocking resignation of Chrystia Freeland. It also comes as a few ministers juggle multiple portfolios, as several ministers in recent months have either left their cabinet positions or have declared they are not seeking re-election.

Ontario MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith will become Canada's next housing minister, after making the issue a key plank of his provincial Liberal leadership bid, and after initially indicating he wouldn't be running again.

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CTV News asked Erskine-Smith on Wednesday about his then-rumoured promotion and he said if he was presented the opportunity to "make a difference on a file like that, it would definitely change my thinking."

The job opened up on Monday, when Nova Scotian Sean Fraser announced he wouldn't be running again, within the same hour that Freeland's letter dropped.

And, taking over the public safety portfolio from Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc – who took on the top economic post on Monday after Freeland quit – will be Ontario MP David McGuinty.

He will roll into his new role likely needing little briefing, as he's been the chair of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) since it started in 2017. The top-secret panel has been deeply involved in studying foreign interference and other national security matters.

In a scrum with reporters on Monday evening, McGuinty denied being asked to resign or take a different job to give former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney a place to run.

"Absolutely not. You know there's a lot of hearsay, a lot of speculation, a lot of gossip going on. You'll forgive me, I just spent, I think this is going into my 40th hour this week in a SCIF, looking at some pretty important security and intelligence issues. That's what I'm focused on, plus my constituents," he said.

Sources have told CTV News that the other Liberal MPs joining cabinet are Quebec MP Rachel Bendayan, Nova Scotia MP Darren Fisher and Manitoba MP Terry Duguid.

Beyond these names, how sizable a shuffle, and who else may be getting moved, promoted or demoted remains to be seen.

• More Trudeau cabinet ministers not running for re-election

The ceremony at Rideau Hall will be the prime minister’s first public appearance – beyond Liberal holiday events – since Monday's tumultuous events that have prompted new calls from both outside and within his party, for him to resign.

Under Trudeau, the Liberals have been facing persistently poor polling numbers that have had them trailing Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives for more than a year. They've also faced significant byelection losses, and have heard repeated calls for the need of a shakeup or reset to Trudeau's inner circle.

Asked Thursday whether Trudeau still had the full support of his cabinet to stay on as prime minister, LeBlanc said "yes."

Speaking at a funding announcement in New Brunswick, LeBlanc dodged a question about his own leadership aspirations stating that "if the prime minister has the full support of his cabinet, then why would we contemplate what happens after he decides to leave?"

With a growing number of Liberal caucus members pushing for the prime minister to step down, LeBlanc said that Trudeau "listened carefully when that view was expressed to him… and he said he would reflect carefully on what he's heard. That’s how the process works."

Which jobs are up for grabs, and who could be on the move?

Beyond LeBlanc, there are two other ministers currently balancing multiple cabinet positions due to colleagues resigning.

Treasury Board President Anita Anand was given the transport portfolio in September after Pablo Rodriguez quit cabinet to run for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party (QLP).

And, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence Ginette Petitpas Taylor, who was tapped to temporarily also become the employment, workforce development and official languages minister, after Randy Boissonnault announced he was stepping out of cabinet to focus on clearing the allegations against him. 

As for the other roles that are expected to be up for grabs because the ministers currently holding them have said they won't be re-offering – and it's likely Trudeau plans to move in loyal MPs who give them a chance to increase their profiles and better their chances of re-electability – are:

• National Revenue Minister and Quebec MP Marie-Claude Bibeau
• Minister of Sport and Physical Activity and British Columbia MP Carla Qualtrough
• Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario and Ontario MP Filomena Tassi, and
• Minister of Northern Affairs, Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency and Manitoba MP Dan Vandal. 

Throughout his shuffles, Trudeau has sought to uphold gender parity and balance regional representation as best as possible, though, with smaller pools of backbench MPs to look to in Western and Atlantic Canada, upholding those tenets may be more challenging this time.

"It's a chance to reward people, quite frankly… But it doesn't change, fundamentally, the situation that we're in. The prime minister is on the ropes. It's well known by party members as well as the general public," said former Liberal premier Frank McKenna.

McKenna said Friday's event may not mean Trudeau's ready to declare his next steps, rather the shuffle is needed because the government has to continue to function with people in positions to make decisions.

"The machinery of government grinds on, even though there may be political change in the winds," he said.

What about Mark Carney? Or a prorogation?

Tied up in the speculation about the Liberals' next moves have been questions around whether Carney could finally make his debut in federal politics beyond acting as an adviser.

According to LeBlanc, if he is, it won't be as finance minister.

"I haven't had any conversations with Mark Carney myself… when the prime minister asked me to be the finance minister, he told me that I was going to be the finance minister in his government until the next election, that I was going to be the finance minister to present the next budget," he told reporters on Thursday.

"Mr. Carney isn't about to become Canada's finance minister in the short term."

There's also been plenty of questions around what the prime minister's plans are for Parliament and whether a prorogation could be on the horizon.

A prorogation would end the current parliamentary session, kill all legislative business that has not passed, and put any plans to table further legislation on pause. A new session of Parliament would begin with a Speech from the Throne, setting the stage for a key confidence vote.

Proroguing now could potentially buy the prime minister some time, either to work on restabilizing his grip on power, or to allow the time for his party to conduct a leadership race.

While not commenting directly on the potential for the prime minister to pull this lever, LeBlanc did note the Liberals did survive several confidence votes last week, referring to the series of last-minute votes on opposition motions and supplementary estimates.

He also said that with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20 and Parliament resuming Jan. 27, "Canadians would be impatient if we spent an inordinate amount of time focusing on ourselves."

Former Conservative cabinet minister Perrin Beatty said the "vacuum" in Ottawa can't persist.

"I don't think anybody expects this Parliament to last beyond a spring budget at the very latest, and we'll be into an election, and I think it's going to be important that we clear the air and that whoever is leading the country has a mandate to do so, particularly given the crisis and the relationship between Canada and the U.S.," he said.

"I think all of the focus at this point is essentially short term."

With files from CTV News' Vassy Kapelos, Brennan MacDonald and Judy Trinh