Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan is poised to announce that he will not seek re-election in the next federal race and will resign from his cabinet role, according to CTV.

O’Regan, a long-time close friend of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who was part of his wedding party in 2005, was initially elected to the House of Commons in 2015 and was re-elected in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

The declaration would take place amid the Trudeau Liberals’ slide in public opinion polls and growing speculation about yet another possible cabinet reshuffle this summer. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet is scheduled to convene on Friday.

The move would be the latest among a string of Liberal MPs to announce they’re quitting or not seeking re-election. In January, David Lametti, the former Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada, said he was resigning from his position, effective February 1st. And, in December 2023, longtime Liberal MP and former Minister, Carolyn Bennett, announced she was also resigning.

The Trudeau Liberals remain way down in the polls compared to the Poilievre Conservatives. A recent poll from Abacus Data reveals that 61 per cent of Canadians would prefer a change in government in the next federal election. 

Another cabinet shuffle?

Last year, Trudeau pulled off a massive cabinet shuffle after his polling numbers first started to fall. The shuffle did nothing to help, though, and he continues to remain about 20 points under the Opposition Conservatives.  

After last year’s cabinet shuffle, one Liberal MP told the Toronto Star it was like putting “lipstick on a pig.”

In 2017, Trudeau appointed O’Regan to the cabinet as minister of veterans affairs. O’Regan has since held various portfolios, including indigenous services, natural resources, labour, and seniors.

O’Regan represents the St. John’s South-Mount Pearl riding.