Bibeau remains ag minister; former Greenpeace leader Guilbeault sworn in as environment minister

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has unveiled a 38-member cabinet for the next parliament, set to begin November 22, 2021.

The cabinet, which was sworn in at Rideau Hall on Tuesday, features six new women, achieving Trudeau’s aim for gender parity in cabinet.

Marie-Claude Bibeau remains in her post as Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, as was generally expected.

Perhaps the most interesting appointment of the day belongs to that of the Minister of Environment of Climate Change. Steven Guilbeault, MP for Laurier—Sainte-Marie, steps in to the role previously held by Jonathan Wilkinson. Guilbeault is a long-time environmentalist, and one of the founders of Equiterre, a Quebec-based environmentalist organization. Guilbeault also headed up the Quebec chapter of Greenpeace for 10 years.

Mary Ng remains the minister responsible for trade, and, as known prior to the swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday, Chrystia Freeland will serve as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister.

Omar Alghabra was re-appointed Minister of Transport, while Jean-Yves Duclos takes over for Patti Hajdu as Minister of Health, which includes overseeing the Pest Management Regulatory Agency and Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Other portfolios that impact agriculture include the Ministry of Natural Resources, which former environment minister Jonathan Wilkinson will now lead. Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador MP Gudie Hutchings becomes Minister of Rural Economic Development.

Noticeably absent from the ceremony was Jim Carr, who previously served as the Prime Minister’s Special Advisor for the Prairies.

The Liberals did win a few seats in Alberta this time around, and Edmonton MP Randy Boissonnault was sworn in as Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance.

Related: Who’s likely to be the federal agriculture minister?

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