Liberal insiders aren’t expecting a major cabinet shuffle any time soon — owing in part to a federal budget expected in late February or early March — but many see a Trump-induced reset as inevitable in 2017 and Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion as one of several ministers who could be poised for a change.

“The one we’re hearing lots of is Dion,” said one former adviser to a current cabinet minister who, along with several others, spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing relationships with the government.

“It might be a bit unusual to have such a major minister shuffled, but I think part of the thinking is that we need folks in those key portfolios, with regard to Canada-U.S. relations, who will just have an easier time getting along with their Trumpian counterparts.”

Dion, who staked his leadership of the Liberal party on the Green Shift, an electorally unsuccessful plan to introduce a carbon tax, is seen as an awkward messenger to deal with the climate deniers Trump is putting in positions of leadership.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s current cabinet was sworn in on November 4, 2015 and save for two minor portfolio adjustments prompted by the eviction from cabinet of former fisheries minister Hunter Tootoo, there hasn’t been a major shuffle yet.

Diplomatic circles were abuzz this past summer with rumours that Dion would be shuffled into the ambassadorship to France, likely come winter, given that the term of current ambassador and Harper-era political appointee Lawrence Cannon is scheduled to come to an end in May 2017.

Dion, with strong ties to France, was viewed by some as perhaps a natural successor. According to one source close to the Liberals, Dion was approached and offered the position — but turned it down.

Joseph Pickerill, director of communications for Dion, called that suggestion “completely false.”

Dion is not the only one facing spring or summer shuffle speculation.

Employment Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk is widely expected to be shifted to another cabinet role given questions about her capabilities. A large chunk of her responsibilities, including employment insurance, were punted to Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos in August and multiple sources say she has outworn her welcome with the Liberal brass.

Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef’s name was also raised by one source, who said her reaction to the barrage of opposition criticism in Question Period didn’t go over well, and she has been a frequent target of media criticism for her handling of the electoral reform file.

Others, like Status of Women Minister Patty Hajdu, are being touted as possible contenders for a promotion because of what many have judged as a solid performance and affability. It was also suggested that House Leader Bardish Chagger could lose her small business and tourism portfolio.

Another element to consider in any possible shuffle, one Liberal lobbyist told iPolitics, is the age of certain cabinet ministers — Immigration Minister John McCallum and Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett are both 66, for example — and may choose not to run again in 2019.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, whose name wasn’t raised, is older than both.

The looming Trump presidency also may fit into shuffle considerations, with one former cabinet minister adviser pointing to Chrystia Freeland as someone who, while capable and well-liked, may rub some in the Trump administration the wrong way.

“Chrystia Freeland is held in very, very high regard, but she also embodies the New York media elite thing that might not play quite as well in the Trump administration,” the source said.

Canada would not be the first country to shuffle its political front bench in search of ministers who might be the best fit with the Trump administration.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto announced Thursday he was appointing former finance minister Luis Videgaray to the foreign minister post.

Videgaray was forced to resign after arranging Trump’s controversial visit to Mexico in September and his re-appointment was widely seen as a sign Mexico is strategizing how best to court senior members of the incoming US administration.

However, two former ambassadors cautioned against viewing that move as a sign Canada should follow suit.

“Ottawa and others have time to take a closer look. Mexico is in a very different situation,” said Paul Frazer, president of Washington consulting firm PD Frazer & Associates and Special Advisor on Canada-U.S. Relations to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “They’ve been under direct attack essentially from the day Mr. Trump launched his campaign in the primaries.”

Frazer, who has held senior assignments at Canadian embassies in Ottawa, New York, Warsaw, Washington, and was ambassador to the Czech Republic and Slovakia, said Canada would do well to hold off making any rash changes to how it deals with the incoming administration.

Instead, his advice is simple.

“Canada should do what it does very well in these circumstances: keep their eyes and ears open really wide and watch the changing situation,” he said.”

Michael Bell, a former member of Trudeau’s foreign affairs advisory council and now a senior fellow at Carleton University’s Norman Patterson School of International Affairs, said that while the government and officials will have to adjust how they engage with the Trump administration, that won’t necessarily translate into major changes to the players involved.

“Depending on the positions he takes, we’re going to have to perhaps modify the way we present views, but I don’t see any dramatic change,” said Bell, who has also served as ambassador to Jordan, Egypt and Israel.

For Canada, the challenge will be in focusing its core priorities and how it wants to approach the messaging around those, said Frazer, noting once those are more detailed, it’s more likely than not that the rest of the puzzle pieces will fall into place.

“I think that’s the first thing is for Ottawa to get a good sense of what it wants to do with the new administration, what is has to protect and then say, do we have the resources in place in the right spot to do it?” said Frazer. “I think if they get the first part right, the next part is not as difficult.”