Housefather returns to parliamentary secretary role

Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather became parliamentary secretary again on Tuesday, four months after being stripped of the role by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

At the time, Trudeau's office did not reveal why Housefather had been demoted to a simple MP, but the fact that he was the only MP, from all parties, to vote against the government bill that modernized the Official Languages Act did not go unnoticed.

Housefather had previously fought fiercely in the standing committee on official languages and in every forum available to him to change the proposed reform. He objected to Quebec's Charter of the French Language being mentioned in federal law.

Several other Liberal MPS had expressed reservations about the bill, including ministers Marc Miller and David Lametti, but all fell in line or abstained when it came time to vote.

Questioned upon his arrival at question period, Housefather said he did not know what motivated the decisions to remove his role as parliamentary secretary and then give it back to him.

“It wasn't me who decided to remove myself or turn around,” he said. “Those are questions for someone else.”

Housefather pointed toward the Prime Minister's Office, which did not respond to a request for comment from The Canadian Press.

With Tuesday's announcement, Housefather becomes parliamentary secretary to the president of the Treasury Board, Anita Anand.

Parliamentary secretaries are MPS who assist a minister, particularly in the House of Commons. They are not part of the cabinet and have no official role in the decision-making process.