Prime Minister Stephen Harper brought eight fresh faces into cabinet Monday — including four new women — but kept his front bench pretty much intact in the biggest shuffle since winning government in 2006.
As The Huffington Post Canada first reported Sunday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Treasury Board President Tony Clement and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird all kept their portfolios in the shuffle. Three former ministers — Peter Kent, Gordon O’Connor and Steven Fletcher — were dropped from cabinet.
As expected, Harper promoted several younger MPs to help the Tories navigate the last half of their majority mandate and carry the party into the 2015 election.
After the swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall, Harper said the new cabinet provides "generational change" with a "good mixture of some young and promising talent we have in our caucus and some experienced hands."
Harper said he was particularly pleased his cabinet, which grows to 39 ministers, boasts "a number of strong and capable women." (There are now 12 up from nine).
Still, there were some surprising picks and fascinating moves.
Check the gallery below for ten interesting changes.
What do you think of the cabinet shuffle? Tell us in the comments below.