Prime Minister Trudeau Announced His New Federal Cabinet

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled his new and expanded cabinet with major shake-ups that mirror the Liberal government priorities and the new minority government dynamic in Ottawa. This Cabinet will have to work closely with members of all opposition parties to ensure the successful passage of legislation.

Many of the key portfolios relevant to the RV and tourism industry have remained the same. They include:

• Melanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages. The tourism industry portfolio will continue to fall under the responsibility of Minister Joly.
• Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance
• Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue
• Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade

There were also a number of moves by existing Ministers, and promotions for MPs that had not been in previous cabinets. Important moves include:

• Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
• François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Filomena Tassi, Minister of Labour. Minister Tassi will lead the labour program at Employment and Social Development Canada. This will be an important portfolio to engage on the apprenticeship grants for RV technicians. RVDA will continue to foster a good relationship with this Minister.
• Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.
• Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development

The continuity of Minister Joly at Tourism and Minister Morneau at Finance is important to RVDA. The association will now be able to build upon the past advocacy work with these key Ministers. Also, most senior political staff in these offices will be maintaining their roles. As a result, RVDA will continue fostering and leveraging the key relationships amongst decision-makers as in the past, and hit the ground running with the Minister of Tourism and the Minister of Finance under the minority mandate the government has won.

Our government relations team will reach out to the relevant Cabinet Ministers to congratulate them on the appointments and also to introduce RVDA and RV dealers as key partners in the overall Canadian Tourism strategy.

A complete list of all Cabinet Ministers, including short biographies, can be found here.