Prime Minister Trudeau named his cabinet Wednesday
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Marie-Claude Bibeau will keep the agriculture portfolio in Prime Minister Trudeau’s new cabinet.
The Member of Parliament from the Quebec riding of Compton-Stanstead was sworn in Wednesday as one of multiple ministers staying in their current positions.
Other ministers holding their positions include Finance Minister Bill Morneau, and Minister of Veterans Affairs Lawrence MacAulay.
Bibeau, who took over the ag file from MacAulay in March, has been Canada’s ag representative during the ongoing canola dispute with China. In August, she announced $1.75 billion in compensation for dairy producers affected by trade deals.
Farm organizations look forward to working with Bibeau on multiple ag issues.
"We look forward to working with Minister Bibeau and discussing the CFA's key priorities which include action on CN rail strike, trade relief, Business Risk Management programming, rural infrastructure funding and additional funding for climate-change related agricultural research,” Mary Robinson, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, said in a statement.
Bibeau will also be tasked with managing ag relationships in Saskatchewan and Alberta, which voted entirely Conservative in October’s election.
“If you look at the map of Canada, the Liberals don’t have a lot of seats in rural communities,” John Barlow, the ag critic for the Conservatives, told Okotoks Online. “Obviously, (Bibeau is) going to have to work with members of the opposition parties.”
Rural Canada as a whole has a new representative in Trudeau’s cabinet.
Maryam Monsef, the MP for Peterborough-Kawartha in Ontario, is the new minister of rural economic development. She also retained her portfolio as minister for women and gender equality.
Ag organizations welcomed Monsef to her new position.
“Congratulations @MaryamMonsef on your new appointment as Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development,” Dairy Farmers of Canada said on Twitter. “DFC looks forward to working with you in your new role to ensure prosperity for rural communities.”
Prior to Monsef’s appointment, Bernadette Jordan, the MP for South Shore-St.Margaret’s in Nova Scotia, held the position.
In Trudeau’s new cabinet, Jordan will serve as the minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.
Farms.com has reached out to industry reps for comment on Bibeau’s return as ag minister.
A full list of Trudeau’s cabinet ministers can be found here.