Federal cabinet shuffle coming as three ministers announce they won’t seek re-election

Oct 18, 2024
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content, Farms.com

Former minister of agriculture Marie-Claude Bibeau appears to be a fourth who won’t run again

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is preparing for another cabinet shuffle – his third since July – after three ministers confirmed they won’t seek re-election, and another appears to be on the way out too.

Filomena Tassi, the minister of the Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, Dan Vandal, the minister of northern affairs, and Carla Qualtrough, the federal minister of sport, all posted statements on X on Oct. 17 announcing their departures from federal politics.

Tassi, the Ontario MP for Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, says her decision is personal.

“It’s time for me to be closer to home with my family,” her statement reads.

Ministers Qualtrough, Bibeau, Tassi and Vandal
Left to right: Ministers Carla Qualtrough, Marie-Claude Bibeau, Filomena Tassi and Dan Vandal (Canadian Press photos).

Vandal, the Manitoba MP for Saint Boniface-Saint-Vital, is ready for life outside of politics.

“It is time to move on to the next stage of my life after many years of representing Winnipeggers,” his statement says.

And Qualtrough, the B.C. MP for Delta, is prepared for new challenges.

“It is time to move on, and I am excited to see what comes next,” she said in her statement.

Ministers Tassi and Vandal engaged with the ag community at times.

In August 2019, for example, Tassi announced $5.5 million in funding to the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority to increase its efficiency and support changes to the Wellington slip and a new covered storage facility for bulk dry products like sugar and grain.

And in July 2024, Vandal announced $21 million of investments supporting value-added agriculture projects across Alberta.

Prior to her appointment as sport minister in a previous cabinet shuffle, Qualtrough served as the federal employment minister.

Her December 2021 mandate letter tasked her with working the federal ag minister to implement sector-based work permits and address chronic labour shortages.

The fourth minister who could be stepping away from Parliament Hill is someone the Canadian ag sector knows well.

Marie-Claude Bibeau, who handled the ag portfolio from 2019 to 2023, doesn’t intend on running again, CTV reported citing senior government sources.

There’s speculation she may enter the mayoral race in Sherbrooke, Que.

On Sept. 13, 2024, Anthony Ouellet with La Tribune reported Bibeau is “seriously thinking” about entering the mayoral race, which is scheduled for November 2025.

Video: How women saved agricultural economics and other ideas for why diversity matters | Jill J. McCluskey

Dr. Jill J. McCluskey, Regents Professor at Washington State University and Director of the School of Economic Science

Dr. McCluskey documents that women entered agricultural economics in significant numbers starting in the 1980s, and their ranks have increased over time. She argues that women have increased the relevance in the field of agricultural economics through their diverse interests, perspectives, and experiences. In their research, women have expanded the field's treatment of non-traditional topics such as food safety and nutrition and environmental and natural resource economics. In this sense, women saved the Agricultural Economics profession from a future as a specialty narrowly focused on agricultural production and markets. McCluskey will go on to discuss some of her own story and how it has shaped some of her thinking and research. She will present her research on dual-career couples in academia, promotional achievement of women in both Economics and Agricultural Economics, and work-life support programs.

The Daryl F. Kraft Lecture is arranged by the Department of Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, with the support of the Solomon Sinclair Farm Management Institute, and in cooperation with the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences.