Ottawa, Jan 12, 2021 (Yes Punjab News)
Canada’s Punjabi-origin Sikh Minister Navdeep Singh Bains is said to be ‘all set’ to resign from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet.
Singh, who was Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, is said to have decided not to run in the next election, CBC News has reported quoting sources with knowledge of the impending reshuffle.
According to the report, Trudeau is planning a cabinet shuffle involving a handful of ministers on Tuesday. The event is expected to be a first virtual cabinet shuffle due to COVID-19. This comes before the Tuesday afternoon virtual meeting of the cabinet.
The sources said Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne will replace Bains, and Transport Minister Marc Garneau will move to Foreign Affairs. Omar Alghabra will be promoted to the cabinet to take over Transport.
Trudeau last shuffled his cabinet in August after the departure of former finance minister Bill Morneau, who stepped down from his position amid the WE Charity controversy to run for a job as the next secretary general for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Morneau was being investigated by Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion after revealing that he had to repay WE Charity $41,366 in travel expenses covered for him by the organization. Dion dropped his investigation in October.
Morneau was replaced by then deputy prime minister and intergovernmental affairs minister Chrystia Freeland who handed her responsibilities for relations between the provinces to Dominic LeBlanc while retaining the position of deputy prime minister in her now post.
