File photo of Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly (L) and Defense Minister Anita Anand. (Photo credit: Canadian PM Twitter account)
Melanie Joly is the new foreign affairs minister. Anita Anand becomes only the second woman in Canadian history to take on the role of defense minister.
OTTAWA, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday announced a new cabinet, which includes significant changes to senior portfolios such as foreign affairs, defense, health and environment.
Totally, there are 39 members of the new cabinet, including Trudeau, with just seven ministers retaining the same titles and positions they previously held.
The new minority Liberal cabinet includes several new titles, including a new minister for mental health and addictions, and a new minister for housing.
Melanie Joly received a major promotion, moving up from minister of economic development and official languages to a much higher profile as foreign affairs minister.
Anita Anand has replaced Harjit Sajjan as minister of defense, with Sajjan being moved to the minister of international development. Anand becomes only the second woman in Canadian history to take on the role of defense minister, after former prime minister Kim Campbell in the 1990s.
Patty Hajdu has been moved from the health file after 19 months of the COVID-19 pandemic and has been given a new mandate as minister of Indigenous Services. Carolyn Bennett has been shuffled out of Crown-Indigenous relations, and that portfolio has been given to Marc Miller.
Jean-Yves Duclos becomes the new minister of health, and Bennett has been tapped to be his associate minister of health as well as holding the new role of minister of mental health and addictions.
Long-time environmental activist Steven Guilbeault is named Canada's new environment minister.
The public safety portfolio has been split into two ministries. Bill Blair maintains the emergency preparedness element, while Marco Mendicino takes on public safety.
Replacing Mendicino as immigration, refugees and citizenship minister is cabinet newcomer Sean Fraser.
Among the other new faces to the cabinet, most of whom have been MPs for years, are Mark Holland, who previously was the chief government whip but is now taking the key Government House Leader role; re-elected Randy Boissonnault, Marci Ien, Helena Jaczek, Kamal Khera, Gudie Hutchings, and newly-elected Pascale St-Onge.
The new Parliament will kick off on Nov. 22. ■
