Photo: Spencer Colby The Canadian Press Marie-Claude Bibeau recently said she was “seriously” considering running for municipal office in Sherbrooke, “La Tribune” reported in September.
National Revenue Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau will be absent from the Liberal Party of Canada’s campaign signs in the upcoming federal election, as will her cabinet colleagues Filomena Tassi, Carla Qualtrough and Dan Vandal.
The news, first published by Radio-Canada and independently confirmed by Le Devoir from a government source, comes a month after the official announcement of the departure of Quebec lieutenant Pablo Rodriguez, who is sitting as an independent MNA while waiting to run for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party.
Bibeau, who is the MNA for Compton-Stanstead, said she was “seriously” considering entering municipal politics in Sherbrooke, the daily newspaper La Tribune reported last September. The person concerned could not be reached Thursday, as she was out of the country. She had not yet commented on the news concerning her at the time of writing.
Marie-Claude Bibeau’s name can thus be added to the short list of Quebec Liberal MPs who have left doubts hanging over their intention to run for a new mandate, which includes Brenda Shanahan (Châteauguay-Lacolle) and Yves Robillard (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin). Montreal MP Emmanuel Dubourg (Bourassa) is retiring.
In June, the offices of ministers Bibeau and Rodriguez assured Devoir that they intended to run again in the next election. The election could be called at any time, while a climate of great political instability is hanging over the Ottawa parliament.
Marie-Claude Bibeau was appointed to National Revenue in 2023 following a major reshuffle of the Trudeau cabinet. First elected in Ottawa in 2015, she also served as Minister of International Development during the Liberal government's first term.
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In 2019, she became the first woman and the first francophone to hold the Agriculture portfolio. She recently confided in an interview with the Journal de Montréal that she had “shaken up” the civil servants in this ministry, who were used to working exclusively in English.
Other ministers
Three other ministers, all elected since 2015, will not be in the running for the next election.
Ontario’s Filomena Tassi, who heads the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, posted a statement on social media site X on Thursday in the form of a heavily pixelated image confirming she will remain an MP until the next election. She says she believes in Mr. Trudeau’s leadership, but justifies her departure by “deeply personal” family reasons.
Minister Carla Qualtrough, originally from British Columbia, changed portfolios six times during the Liberal government’s three terms, only to return to Sports in 2023, to which Physical Activity was added.
Finally, Manitoban Dan Vandal was appointed to the former position of Minister of Northern Affairs in 2019, but was demoted to lesser economic development responsibilities in 2021.
A possible reshuffle
The announcement of these announced departures has given new life to the conjecture machine concerning a possible cabinet reshuffle. The office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not want to comment on “rumours of a reshuffle”. Such an exercise would be complicated by the grumbling of a part of the Liberal caucus, at a time when several media outlets have reported the existence of a letter signed by MPs demanding Justin Trudeau's resignation.
Ministers in his cabinet have since reaffirmed their loyalty. Justin Trudeau has repeatedly reiterated his intention to remain leader of the LPC in view of the next federal election.
The Liberal Party of Canada announced in an email sent on the morning of Thanksgiving Sunday that it has chosen a replacement for the position of national campaign director, following the resignation of Jeremy Broadhurst in September. The new director is Andrew Bevan, who has been chief of staff to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland since last year. He will be joined by Quebec’s Marjorie Michel, who has been named deputy campaign director.
With The Canadian Press