OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau switched the roles of two Cabinet ministers on Wednesday because Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi asked to spend more time at her home in Ontario for family reasons.
During a brief ceremony, Tassi was sworn in as the minister for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, a position which was previously held by Helena Jaczek.
Jaczek, a member of parliament from Ontario’s Markham—Stouffville region, was sworn in as procurement minister.
Tassi said that her husband suffered two strokes early last year and that she spoke to Trudeau last month about “balancing the needs of my family with the travel demands,” according to a statement.
“I want to thank the prime minister for approaching my situation as a challenge to be addressed and solved, rather than as a choice to be made between family or public service,” she said.
The changes to Trudeau’s Cabinet are the first since last year’s election, and they come a week before ministers meet in Vancouver to discuss the Liberal government’s legislative priorities for the coming year.
(Reporting by Steve Scherer and Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)
