Anandasangaree sworn in as both Crown-Indigenous relations and northern affairs minister

Gary Anandasangaree, the federal Crown-Indigenous relations minister, has taken on a second job as northern affairs minister following a cabinet shuffle announced Friday by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Anandasangaree was sworn in by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon at Rideau Hall. He was one of the four minister to get new portfolios, with eight new faces added to Trudeau’s cabinet.

“Our team is focused on the things that matter most to you — making life more affordable, growing the economy and creating good jobs for the middle class,” Trudeau said in a government news release announcing the changes.

“Together, we will keep building a strong future for the middle class, and for all Canadians.”

Previously, responsibilities for the department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada were divided between two ministers — Anandasangaree with Crown-Indigenous relations and Dan Vandal on Northern Affairs and the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.

But in October, Vandal announced he will not seek re-election and would leave the cabinet once his replacement was named.

In recent months, Vandal was one of eight ministers who have either quit cabinet or announced they won’t run in the next federal election.

That list includes former deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland, whose resignation Monday — the day she was to deliver the fall economic update — rocked the government.

In her resignation letter, Freeland said she and Trudeau were “at odds about the best path forward for Canada.”

Since then, calls for Trudeau to step down have intensified including from several members of his own caucus.

On Friday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said his party will introduce a motion of non-confidence to bring down the Trudeau government in the next sitting of the House of Commons in January.

In addition to changes in the Crown-Indigenous relations and northern affairs department, the cabinet includes eight new faces and three more ministers changing their portfolios:

• Anita Anand remains minister of transport, also taking on the internal trade portfolio;
• Steven MacKinnon becomes minister of employment, workforce development and labour;
• Ginette Petitpas Taylor becomes Treasury Board president;
• Quebec MP Rachel Bendayan becomes minister of official languages and associate minister of public safety;
• Quebec MP Élisabeth Brière is minister of national revenue;
• Winnipeg MP Terry Duguid is minister of sport and minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada;
• Ontario MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith is minister of housing, infrastructure and communities;
• Nova Scotia MP Darren Fisher is now veterans affairs minister and associate minister of national defence;
• Ontario MP David McGuinty is public safety minister;
• Ontario MP Ruby Sahota becomes minister of democratic institutions and minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario;
• Newfoundland and Labrador MP Joanne Thompson becomes minister for seniors.