Revenue Minister John McCallum is temporarily taking on the duties of Natural Resources Minister John Efford, as Efford continues to struggle with health issues.
Efford, 61, has been ill of late with complications from diabetes and has had to cancel a number of trips and engagements as he undergoes treatment.
He recently was forced to skip a key meeting of provincial energy ministers in St. Andrews, N.B. Deputy Minister Richard Fadden, a bureaucrat who had joined the Natural Resources department only two weeks before, had to take his place.
That led to calls from the Opposition that Efford be relieved of his duties, particularly with the problem of rising gasoline and heating fuel prices reaching a crisis.
The decision to remove the Newfoundland MP is meant to be temporary, reports CTV Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife.
"They want to give him an opportunity to get fixed up with his diabetes," says Fife. "He'll be back on the job whenever that disease is under control."
Efford will retain his responsibility as regional minister for Newfoundland and Labrador.
McCallum will take on the new job as well as continuing in his duties as minister of national revenue. He will not be formally sworn in as natural resources minister.
McCallum, a former chief economist of the Royal Bank, once served as defence minister, was later moved to Veterans Affairs, and become revenue minister in July 2004.
Efford has missed several cabinet and caucus meetings and did not attend the Commons vote on same-sex marriage legislation. But Fife says if the Liberals face any confidence motions in the near future, Efford will return to Ottawa.
"He will be in Parliament whenever there are do-or-die votes," Fife reports.
Efford has said he will not run in the next election, expected to be called by March.
