Marc Miller back in cabinet as culture minister, Joël Lightbound new Quebec lieutenant
OTTAWA — In a small cabinet shuffle on Monday, Prime Minister Mark Carney distributed Steven Guilbeault’s many roles to two existing ministers and a former Trudeau-era minister he is bringing back into cabinet.
Montreal Liberal MP Marc Miller, a personal friend of Justin Trudeau, was dropped from cabinet after Carney became prime minister in March. He was sworn in as minister of Canadian identity and culture and minister responsible for official languages.
Miller is an experienced minister who has handled difficult files in government. He previously served as minister of Indigenous services, Crown-Indigenous relations and minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship.
Joël Lightbound, who is currently minister of government transformation, public works and procurement, will also serve as Carney’s Quebec lieutenant. That role is usually a symbolic one, but he was still sworn in at Rideau Hall because his title had changed.
Lightbound, who represents a Quebec City riding, is taking on this role at a critical time in Quebec politics that could see the separatist Parti Québécois take power next year.
Julie Dabrusin retained her portfolio but was sworn in with the new title of Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Nature. After losing the environment portfolio in March, Guilbeault had held on to the title of minister of nature and Parks Canada.
Those changes came days after Guilbeault resigned as minister because of the agreement struck between Ottawa and Alberta. He has criticized the deal, which is proposing a new bitumen pipeline and which he said would roll back climate policies he’s implemented.
In his resignation letter, Guilbeault criticized the lack of consultation with British Columbia and coastal First Nations for the proposed pipeline. He also slammed the government for exempting Alberta from the clean electricity regulations — calling it a “serious mistake” — and for lifting the tanker ban on the West Coast which has been in place for decades but only became law in 2019.
Guilbeault made his first media appearance at Radio-Canada’s weekly talk show “Tout le monde en parle” on Sunday to explain why he decided to leave Carney’s cabinet. After standing by the Liberal government for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and the cancellation of the carbon tax, he said that the deal struck with Alberta was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“At some point, you have to be able to look at yourself in the mirror,” said the Montreal MP in French.
Guilbeault admitted that, because he was no longer minister of the environment, he was not kept informed of the negotiations surrounding the deal. But once he caught wind of what had been agreed on via media reports, he reached out to the prime minister’s office to ask for a briefing on the contents of the deal and propose some changes.
Seeing that those suggestions were rejected, he concluded he could not publicly defend the government’s policies anymore. He said he had no choice but to step down as a minister.
The former minister appeared to fight back tears when asked if he had abandoned the cultural sector with his decision. He said there were still many things he was hoping to accomplish in that area, but that the price to pay to defend a new prospective bitumen pipeline was too high.
Despite those differences of opinion, Guilbeault reiterated his confidence in his leader and said that, if an election were held today, he would still vote for the Liberal Party of Canada.
Guilbeault said that, as an MP, he can now speak his mind and he did not hesitate to do so in that interview.
Guilbeault criticized Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for imposing a moratorium on new renewable energy projects and expressed disbelief with his government trying to bend to her demands.
He said that Smith would never be happy with Ottawa and that she would probably have a new list of additional demands in two or three months. He said she was not a “trustworthy partner” in this negotiation.
In recent days, several Liberal MPs have praised Guilbeault’s contributions to Canada and his choice to stay in the caucus, and some of them have dismissed his criticism of the deal with Alberta.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the terms agreed on will ensure that Canada can be a “responsible and sustainable energy producer.”
“I think Canadians understand the world has changed,” he said in Halifax on Friday.
Other Liberal MPs have said that the dust will eventually settle on this issue and progressives will come to realize that a pipeline might not see the light of day.
National Post
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