Political circles have been rife with speculation for weeks now over who could get which portfolio and what the pending changes will signal about Trudeau’s priorities following an election that exposed deep regional tensions in Western Canada about the region’s ability to develop natural resources and have its voice heard in the halls of power in Ottawa.

At the same time, climate change was a key issue for roughly two-thirds of voters and is set to dominate a new minority Parliament in which the Liberals will likely need to rely on the support of either the NDP or the Bloc Québécois to get most of their legislative agenda through the House of Commons.