Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre reacted to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet shuffle Wednesday by accusing former Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino of lying on behalf of Trudeau and calling for the prime minister to step down.
“I am glad to see Marco Mendicino out,” Poilievre told reporters in Timmins, Ontario. “He lied about the use of the Emergencies Act, claiming the police told him to do it.”
“He lied when he said that Trudeau wasn’t going to ban hunting rifles,” Poilievre continued. “He lied about his knowledge of the government’s transfer of Paul Bernardo out of a maximum-security penitentiary.”
“I think he was telling those lies on behalf of Justin Trudeau.”
Trudeau announced his new cabinet Wednesday which saw many new faces as some ministers switched roles and several opted not to seek re-election.
Mendicino was ousted from cabinet following a scandal involving his oversight of the transfer of Canadian serial killer and rapist Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison earlier this year. Mendicino was also dogged by his handling of the Freedom Convoy last year.
Dominic LeBlanc was named as the new Minister of Public Safety to replace Mendicino. Former Defense Minister Anita Anand will become the new Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat while Bill Blair will take over her former position.
MP Arif Virani is set to take over David Lametti’s role as Canada’s Minister of Justice while Pablo Rodriguez will act as the new Transport Minister, replacing Omar Alghabra.
Former ministers Mendicino, Lametti, Mona Fortier will be leaving cabinet while Carolyn Bennet, Helena Jaczek and Alghabra will be leaving politics altogether.
“Justin Trudeau may have fired many of his Cabinet Ministers today, but he’s just as out-of-touch as ever, doubling down on his inflationary, high-spending and high-taxing ways,” wrote Poilievre in a statement.
“The Minister that really needs to be shuffled out is Justin Trudeau. His record is one of failure, and he is shuffling nearly his entire cabinet in a desperate attempt to distract from all that he has broken.”
