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“For the prime minister there are a lot of important files. The government is trying to move forward now and there’s a lot of work that’s ongoing. So the need here is for continuity, to make sure that we keep moving forward with what is a pretty ambitious policy agenda.

“We’re only a year into the new government and there’s still a lot of work to do and we have the ministers in place to do that work.”

Political pundits believe Oda, 67, chose to resign instead of waiting to be shuffled out of cabinet by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Before his new assignment, Fantino served as associate minister of national defence and minister of state (seniors).

Bernard Valcourt, a New Brunswick MP, will fill Fantino’s defence post but also continue his work as minister of state (Atlantic).

Oda wasn’t expected to survive a cabinet shuffle after her latest spending controversy in which she stayed at a luxury hotel in London, England, on the public dollar and ordered a $16 glass of orange juice.

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She was heavily criticized for staying at the Savoy, a swanky hotel frequented by royalty, after refusing to sleep at a cheaper five-star hotel. She also hired a limousine to drive her around during the trip, at a cost of $1,000 a day.

She later paid back the difference between the costs of the two hotels.

Some other questions about Oda’s spending habits abroad have yet to be resolved. Records show that Oda modified the amounts related to expenses on a number of recent trips, but has refused to reveal why those figures were changed.

Both Fantino and Valcourt were sworn in at Rideau Hall today, according to a news released from the PMO.

National Post, with files from Mark Kennedy, Postmedia News and The Canadian Press