Will Mississauga cabinet minister survive shuffle expected this week in Ottawa?

Several cabinet ministers are expected to be removed from their posts when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffles the deck this week in Ottawa, but it’s not yet known if Transport Minister and Mississauga Centre MP Omar Alghabra will be among them.

Alghabra, 53, has served in the high-profile–and highly stressful–post since January of 2021, when he took the reins from Marc Garneau in a cabinet shuffle at that time.

According to a number of reports, Trudeau could make changes to his inner circle as early as Wednesday. He’s said to be meeting privately with a number of ministers today and tomorrow, a sign that a shakeup is coming.

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.

Insauga.com attempted to contact Alghabra this afternoon to determine if he’s on the shuffle list or if he has a meeting scheduled with the prime minister, but a response has not yet been received.

Alghabra was to attend a media session today (July 24) at Vancouver International Airport for a major funding announcement, but the event has been cancelled.

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

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.

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.