Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is adding eight Liberal MPs to his front bench and is reassigning four ministers in a cabinet shuffle currently underway in Ottawa.
Making several changes to his ministerial roster now comes after a tumultuous week for the federal Liberals, and was framed as a bid to inject some stability, exactly one month before U.S. president-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Though, before the ceremony even got underway, Trudeau was dealt a major blow to the last remaining pillar of parliamentary support his embattled minority was relying on to stay in power. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh dropped a letter declaring his party will be moving a motion of non-confidence in the new year.
Trudeau is attending the ceremony, presided over by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon in the ballroom at Rideau Hall. This is his first public appearance since facing fresh calls to resign.
Here's who's in, and who is being handed new responsibilities.
Ontario MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith becomes Canada's next housing, infrastructure and communities minister, taking over for Sean Fraser, who announced on Monday that he wouldn't be running again.
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 Chrystia Freeland's stunning resignation – is Ontario MP and current chair of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) David McGuinty.
The other Liberal MPs who will be joining cabinet are:
The current cabinet ministers moving into new, or amended positions are:
As anticipated, based on comments LeBlanc made yesterday, Mark Carney has not been appointed a cabinet position in this shuffle after Trudeau assured LeBlanc he'd be staying in his current role until the next election.
Throughout his shuffles, Trudeau has sought to uphold gender parity and balance regional representation as best as possible. His current front bench does maintain an equal number of men and women: 19, when not counting the prime minister, for a total of 38 ministers.
Sources have indicated that while Trudeau is ready to make changes to his inner circle, it's not to be interpreted as the prime minister being ready to declare his next steps, and it remains to be seen if he takes questions following the shuffle.
Trudeau though, has called a cabinet meeting for 3 p.m. EST.
In a statement announcing the changes to his ministry, Trudeau said his team "is focused on the things that matter most to you – making life more affordable, growing the economy, and creating good jobs for the middle class."
"Together, we will keep building a strong future for the middle class, and for all Canadians," he said.
Asked Thursday whether Trudeau still has the full support of his cabinet to stay on as prime minister, LeBlanc said "yes."