Anita Anand to take on Transport Canada in imminent cabinet shuffle

Treasury Board President Anita Anand took on the additional responsibilities of transport minister in a cabinet shuffle Thursday.

Anand was officially sworn in at a Rideau Hall ceremony that was led by the Governor General of Canada Mary Simon and included John Hannaford, clerk of the Privy Council.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled part of his cabinet after Pablo Rodriguez, the transport minister and the Liberals’ Quebec lieutenant, announced he was quitting to enter the race to become the leader of the provincial Liberal Party.

In addition to her new responsibilities, Anand will keep her current role.

Procurement Minister Jean Yves Duclos took over as the Liberals’ Quebec lieutenant.

Speaking with reporters after the event, Anand said in French that she was very happy to be the minister of two large and important files.

“I’m rolling up my sleeves,” Anand said, adding she told the prime minister on Wednesday that she was ready to work hard. “There is no time to waste.”

When asked about whether she wanted to lead the Liberal party one day, Anand said her priorities were to work with her team to deliver for the country and the economy.

“I am a mother of four and two dogs, I now have two portfolios, and I’m also the member of Parliament for Oakville,” Anand said. “I’m extremely committed to my family and my constituents as well as the Government of Canada’s mission, and those are the items that I’m going to be working on now and into the future.”

Rodriguez has said he will sit as an independent member of Parliament, representing Honoré-Mercier riding, until the launch of the provincial leadership campaign next January “to avoid a costly byelection a few weeks or months before a general election.”

Rodriguez’s decision to step down from the Trudeau cabinet came just days after the government lost a stronghold riding to the Bloc Québécois in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun. Earlier this year, the Liberals faced a blow after losing the riding of Toronto-St. Paul’s to the Conservatives.

The move also came two months after the minister of labour and seniors, Seamus O’Regan, stepped down from cabinet.

Rodriguez said the official launch of his campaign would take place “in the coming weeks.” First elected in 2004, Rodriguez has also served as minister of Canadian heritage and as Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.