Trudeau’s Trade Minister Hit With Cancer Diagnosis After Vote

(Bloomberg) -- One of Justin Trudeau’s key lieutenants has cancer, complicating the Canadian prime minister’s plans for a second term after a bruising election.

Trade Minister Jim Carr was diagnosed with multiple myeloma on Tuesday, the day after the governing Liberal Party was reduced a minority government and shut out of two oil-producing western provinces.

“I have begun chemotherapy and dialysis treatment, which will continue for the near future,” Carr said in a statement Friday.

A former provincial lawmaker in Manitoba, Carr was one several rookie members of the federal parliament elevated to cabinet when Trudeau won power in 2015. His first post was as energy minister, helping overhaul Canada’s environmental review rules and nationalize the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project after Kinder Morgan Inc. threatened to walk away.

Trudeau’s team lost the popular vote to the opposition Conservatives and was reduced to 157 seats in Monday’s election, short of the 170 needed to govern unilaterally. No Liberals were elected in either Saskatchewan or Alberta, which oppose Trudeau’s national carbon tax, so Carr is likely to be given a senior role in cabinet as the prime minister seeks to address concerns of western alienation.

“My spirits are high,” Carr said, adding that he’d spoken to Trudeau and “reiterated my commitment to serving my constituents and all Canadians.”

Trudeau has indicated he will govern on a case-by-case basis rather than striking a formal agreement with one of the opposition parties. The new cabinet will be announced on Nov. 20, with no firm date yet for the legislature to resume sitting.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Wicary in Ottawa at swicary@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Theophilos Argitis at targitis@bloomberg.net

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