Mississauga cabinet minister Omar Alghabra resigns his high-profile post in Ottawa

Federal Transport Minister and Mississauga Centre MP Omar Alghabra says he’s resigning the high-profile cabinet post and “stepping aside” after deciding not to run in the next election.

As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prepares to shuffle the deck this week in Ottawa, the cabinet makeover coming perhaps as early as Wednesday, Alghabra took to Twitter this morning (July 25) to announce he’s stepping down as transport minister after two-and-a-half years in the post.

Alghabra, 53, took the ministry of transport reins from Marc Garneau in a cabinet shuffle in January of 2021.

There had been speculation Alghabra was among the cabinet ministers about to be shuffled out of his post after a major funding announcement he was to attend on Monday at Vancouver International Airport was cancelled.

Such cancellations of ministerial events can oftentimes point to an impending cabinet shuffle.

In a brief written preface to his video announcement on Twitter (see below), the longtime Mississauga politician said “After a lot of reflection, I decided not to run in the next election. As a result, I will be stepping aside from cabinet. I was first elected in 2006 and have had the journey of a lifetime. I’m grateful for every minute of it.”

Alghabra said in the video, which is just over two minutes in length, that it was a difficult decision, but he felt he had to resign his cabinet post “because the prime minister deserves a cabinet that’s committed to running in the next federal campaign.”

He added he feels it’s the “right time for me” to step aside.

Alghabra has been at the helm of the transport ministry during some chaotic times at Pearson Airport in Mississauga and other airports as they dealt with numerous post-pandemic issues including cancelled and delayed flights, huge lineups inside airport terminals and lost luggage.

Several cabinet ministers are expected to be removed from their posts when Trudeau shuffles the deck this week.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino could be one minister on his way out in the wake of the controversy over the recent transfer of serial killer Paul Bernardo from a maximum-security prison to a medium-security facility.

Alghabra has represented Mississauga Centre in Ottawa since 2015. He occupied the positions of parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs (2015-2018) and to the minister of international trade diversification (2018-2019) prior to being named minister of transport early in 2021. 

I have news to share: after a lot of reflection, I decided to not run in the next election. As a result I will be stepping aside from cabinet. I was first elected in 2006 and have had the journey of a lifetime. I’m grateful for every minute of it pic.twitter.com/1dNM28YRnN

— Omar Alghabra (@OmarAlghabra) July 25, 2023