Mark Miller stands with Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and Prime Minister Mark Carney after being sworn in as Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture in Ottawa on Monday.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

More than eight months have passed and it’s now safe to bring friends of Justin Trudeau back into the cabinet.

Marc Miller was one of the Trudeau-era ministers tossed over the side of the ship of state when Mark Carney became prime minister, when the political imperative was making Canadians see his government as something new and different.

Mr. Miller was also a Friend of Justin, one of the former prime minister’s closest friends, in a government that had more than one. New Brunswick’s Dominic LeBlanc was staying in a senior role. There was only room for so many.

But hey, things don’t feel the same now.

Carney taps Marc Miller as Culture Minister in cabinet shuffle

Mr. Carney lured a Conservative MP across the floor. He cut the feminist out of Mr. Trudeau’s feminist foreign policy. He made a deal for a pipeline and........

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