O’Regan will be leaving his position for family reasons, said one Liberal source, but will remain as an MP until the next federal election
Minister of Labour and Seniors Seamus O’Regan will be announcing he will not be running in the next election and is stepping down from cabinet effective on Friday, prompting a quick cabinet meeting that day to fulfil his duties, sources tell National Post.
O’Regan will be leaving his position for family reasons, said one Liberal source, but will remain as an MP until the next federal election. It is expected that he will put up a statement on social media explaining his reasons on Thursday.
O’Regan’s departure would explain why the Liberal cabinet is meeting on Friday, just before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to leave for his summer vacation.
But a bigger cabinet shuffle is not expected this week.
As another source put it: “any shuffle would be replacing the minister that left.”
One possible avenue would be to shuffle Steven MacKinnon, who was acting as Government House Leader during Karina Gould’s maternity leave for the past six months and remains a member of cabinet, to a new portfolio now that Gould is set to resume her previous duties.
Another option would be to add on an extra portfolio to another cabinet minister.
In any case, the announcement that one of Trudeau’s top ministers and best friends is not seeking re-election comes as the Liberals are still reeling from a byelection defeat in a formerly safe Toronto seat and remain low in the polls, 20 points behind the Conservatives.
O’Regan, a close friend of Trudeau, was first elected in the Newfoundand and Labrador riding of St. John’s South-Mount Pearl in 2015 and was re-elected in 2019 and 2021.
He was appointed to cabinet in 2017 as minister of veterans affairs and went on to serve in a number of portfolios, notably Indigenous affairs, natural resources, labour and seniors.
O’Regan’s departure is also prompting more questions about the state of the Liberal party.
In recent weeks, Trudeau’s entourage has been under intense pressure to either leave his position or implement changes in his entourage or in his cabinet, and there is increasing speculation that it could translate into a bigger cabinet shuffle later in the summer.
Trudeau said he has been trying to convince former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney to join his team for years, but it is unclear if he would be willing to drop his lucrative endeavours to join a party that could be defeated in a year to 18 months.
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