Pablo Rodriguez quits Trudeau cabinet to seek Quebec Liberal leadership [Video]

Pablo Rodriquez has resigned from his position as transport minister in the federal cabinet and will be seeking leadership of the Quebec Liberals, he told reporters on Thursday.

“I have informed the prime minister of my resignation as Canada’s transport minister and Quebec lieutenant, effective immediately,” he told reporters.

“I have also decided to sit as an Independent MP until the launch of the leadership campaign next January. This is in order to avoid costly byelections a few weeks or months before January.”

Sources told Global News there will be a mini cabinet shuffle to shift his roles as transport minister and Quebec lieutenant to individuals already in the federal cabinet on Thursday.

Rodriguez’s decision comes as the latest blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, who lost a key byelection in the stronghold riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun in Montreal on Monday.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller on Tuesday was asked if Rodriquez, who …