A federal cabinet minister will officially resign later today.
The Prime Minister's Office confirmed on Thursday that Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan is stepping down from cabinet and will not be seeking re-election in the next federal contest.
A replacement for O'Regan will be sworn in at Rideau Hall.
O'Regan will stay on as a Newfoundland MP until the next election, which is set to take place by fall 2025.
He alluded to the need to spend more time with family in a speech last month in Toronto, saying he was the primary caregiver for his mom.
Speaking on AM800's the Shift, University of Windsor Political Science Professor Lydia Miljan says the travel is obviously a big factor in the decision, but the fact remains a lot has been uncertain for the Liberals since losing the Toronto St. Pauls riding in June.
"And that's with everybody throwing everything that they could, at least the Liberals throwing they could at that riding, and still losing and coming up short. The other way to look at it is O'Regan wanting to leave on his terms rather than be ousted by the electorate," she said.
Miljan says this kind of thing happens a lot when governments have several election runs, as both the previous Harper and Martin governments saw, and 16 sitting MPs have so far indicated they're not running again in 2025.
"But I think more compelling is only 99 MPs have confirmed that they are seeking re-election. And part of it is a lot of them are being impacted by new boundaries, they have a bigger challenge, and then combine that with the fact that they're trailing the Conservatives 20 points in the polls which must certainly weigh heavily on them."
She says O'Regan can read the polls as well as anyone else, and while the Atlantic provinces were once a strength for the Liberals that doesn't look as certain now.
"The Liberals really did do well in Atlantic Canada previously, and they tried to quell the concerns that people in the Maritimes were having with this government last year when they had the carve out on home heating oil. And they thought that was going to change their fortunes, and in fact it made things worse as there was a perception that they were trying to buy votes," Miljan said.
A source with knowledge of the matter told the Canadian Press that a broader cabinet shuffle isn't expected to take place Friday.
- with files from AM800's The Shift and the Canadian Press
