[OntarioJeremy]

Hon. G.F. Thompson, MP (C-New Brunswick Southwest), Minister of Veterans' Affairs, has resigned, effective immediately. Hon. Mr. Thompson will hold his seat until dissolution. A teacher and financial planner, he has held a seat in Parliament for 18 years (1988-93, since 1997). A simple case of seeking new challenges? Fodder for a future Senate appointment? (New Brunswick currently has a vacant seat in the Senate.) Or perhaps he knows something that the rest of us don't? We'll know soon.

One other thing of note: With Hon. Mr. Thompson's resignation, the only members of the Cabinet to hold the same posts as they did in the first Cabinet of the current government are Hon. Marjory LeBreton as Leader of the Government in the Senate and Hon. James M. Flaherty as Minister of Finance.