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Prime Minister Mark Carney will make changes to his front bench this afternoon after Steven Guilbeault resigned from cabinet last week.
Guilbeault quit cabinet over Thursday’s memorandum of understanding with Alberta, which jointly agrees on a path forward for a new bitumen pipeline to the B.C. coast.
The Montreal MP had been serving as minister of official languages, Canadian identity and culture — and Carney’s Quebec lieutenant. The prime minister will be looking to fill both of those roles.
A swearing-in ceremony will be held at Rideau Hall at 3 p.m. ET.
Guilbeault had held cabinet positions under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, including the environment and climate change portfolio.
WATCH | What does the Alberta energy deal mean for the Liberal caucus?:
Carney’s pipeline deal leaves questions about caucus division
After Quebec MP Steven Guilbeault decided to resign from cabinet over the federal government’s new energy deal with Alberta, questions remain over how united the Liberal caucus is about providing a political pathway to a new oil pipeline through B.C.
As part of the agreement with Alberta, Ottawa will suspend the proposed federal oil and gas emissions cap and remove Alberta’s requirements under the Clean Electricity Regulations — both of which were introduced while Guilbeault was environment minister.
Carney had previously walked back other Trudeau-era environmental policies, notably suspending the consumer carbon tax on his first day as prime minister.
Guilbeault referenced several of these policies in a statement on Thursday.
“Over the past few months, several elements of the climate action plan I worked on as minister of the environment have been, or are about to be, dismantled.… In my view, these measures remain essential to our climate action plan,” he wrote.
Guilbeault is staying on as a Liberal MP.
