MacAulay sworn in as veterans minister
OTTAWA • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ended a stormy week for his government by making a few minor changes to his cabinet to fill the void left by the resignation of Jody Wilson-Raybould.
Longtime MP Lawrence MacAulay was sworn in as veterans affairs minister — a post briefly held by Wilson- Raybould before she resigned from cabinet last month in the wake of the ongoing SNC- Lavalin controversy.
Two other ministers were given new responsibilities: Marie- Claude Bibeau replaced Mac Au lay as agriculture minister and Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef received the additional portfolio of international development, which Bibeau formerly held.
Bibeau is now responsible for selling recently signed trade agreements to Quebec dairy farmers that will reduce the protective effect of supply management in their industry.
She said she’s eager to meet with them.
“It’s a huge privilege — I come from a rural riding, a dairy riding, in fact, in the south of Quebec, so I’m very close to the producers in Quebec,” she said outside Ride au Hall after being sworn in as the first female federal agriculture minister. Monsef said she is looking forward to working especially on moving forward with the feminist international development policy Bibeau introduced.
“I’m going to continue to ensure that women are the heart of the work that we do. Because when women do well, whether it’s abroad or here in Canada, their families do better and everyone benefits.” MacAulay will take over responsibility for a new veterans benefits regime the parliamentary budget officer reported last week will mean less generous support for veterans leaving the Canadian Forces.
Unusually, the headquarters for the Department of Veterans Affairs is outside the capital region — it’s in Charlottetown, P.E.I., which is MacAulay’s home province. Wilson- Raybould, who was moved from the justice portfolio to veterans affairs in the last federal cabinet shuffle in mid-January, resigned her post Feb. 12.
Trudeau did not take questions from reporters — a departure from past cabinet shuffle events at Rideau Hall.