New faces in cabinet include six women and an MP from Alberta

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has added a number of new faces to his cabinet, including six women and one of the Liberal Party’s two MPs from Alberta.

Helena Jaczek is the new Minister Responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, and Kamal Khera, who’s been the MP for the GTA riding of Brampton West since 2015, is the new Minister of Seniors.

Gudie Hutchings, an MP from Newfoundland and Labrador, is now the Minister of Rural Economic Development, after having been the parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development, as well as parliamentary secretary for Small Business and Tourism. Ms. Hutchings has been the MP for the riding of Long Range Mountains since 2015.

Another new face is Pascale St-Onge, the new Minister of Sport and Minister Responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec. Elected this fall in the Quebec riding of Brome-Missisquoi, Ms. St.-Onge has served as the secretary-general and then as president of the Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture, where she focused on the media and culture sector.

Also in cabinet is Ginette Petitpas Taylor, the MP for Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe in New Brunswick since 2015, as the Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. She previously served as minister of health from 2017 to 2019 and was most recently the deputy government whip.

Rounding out the new female ministers in the gender-balanced cabinet is Marci Ien, who heads the Ministry of Women, Gender Equality and Youth. She held her Toronto Centre seat in this year’s election against Green Party Leader Annamie Paul after originally winning it in a 2020 byelection.

Randy Boissonnault, one of only two Liberals from Alberta and one of only a handful of MPs from the LGBTQ community, is the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance.

Mr. Boissonnault won the riding of Edmonton Centre by just over 600 votes over the incumbent Conservative candidate. He was first elected an MP in 2015 but was defeated in 2019 when the Liberals were completely shut out of Alberta.

After his win in 2015, he was appointed the first Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on LGBTQ2 issues.

Edmonton Centre is one of only two seats the Liberals hold in the province, the other being Calgary Skyview, recently won by George Chahal. The NDP also took two seats in Edmonton.

Three of the new female cabinet ministers are from the Greater Toronto Area.

Ms. Jaczek was first elected in 2019. As the MP for the riding of Markham-Stouffville, she has served on the industry, science and technology parliamentary committee, as well as the committees for transport, infrastructure and communities and the pandemic.

Prior to entering federal politics, she was the MPP for the riding of Oak Ridges-Markham and, before that, the medical officer of health and commissioner of health services for the Regional Municipality of York.

Ms. Khera has served as parliamentary secretary for various ministers during the past two parliaments: the Minister of International Development, the Minister of Health, the Minister of National Revenue and the Minister of International Development.

In March, 2020, she was the first MP to contract COVID-19 and recovered at home. A registered nurse, she later volunteered at a long-term care facility in Brampton that was short-staffed. She has served on the standing committee on health, as well as the Special Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying.

Prior to entering politics, Ms. Ien worked as a journalist with CTV, including hosting the broadcaster’s Canada AM morning show.

Long-time MP Mark Holland, representing the riding of Ajax in Southern Ontario, becomes the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. He was previously the chief government whip.

And Sean Fraser, a Nova Scotia MP since 2015, takes over the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

Mr. Fraser was most recently the parliamentary secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, as well as to the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance. Prior to that, he was the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

He is the sole MP from Nova Scotia in cabinet, filling a gap left by Bernadette Jordan, the former MP for South Shore-St. Margarets, who did not win re-election this fall.

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