Ottawa South MP David McGuinty named defence minister in Carney's new cabinet

Ottawa South MP David McGuinty has been named defence minister in Prime Minister Mark Carney's new cabinet.

Carney unveiled his new cabinet in a swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall on Tuesday, naming 28 ministers and nine secretaries of state. In total, Carney selected 24 new cabinet members, 13 of whom are also newly elected.

McGuinty is a veteran on Parliament Hill. He was first elected to represent Ottawa South in 2004, and has since been re-elected in the riding seven times. In his most recent victory last month, he won his seat with more than 65 per cent of the vote.

McGuinty served as a backbencher for two decades before being named minister of public safety in former prime minister Justin Trudeau's final cabinet shuffle in December.

The 65-year-old will take over the defence portfolio from Bill Blair amid renewed attention on the military and threats against Canada's sovereignty from the White House.

During the recent election campaign, Carney committed to boosting defence spending to two per cent of GDP by 2030. That promise would accelerate Trudeau's previous timeline for hitting Canada's NATO military spending benchmark by two years.

In his recent Oval Office meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Carney reiterated the importance of investing in Canada's military. McGuinty joined Carney in Washington for that meeting.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said on Tuesday he's "really pleased" to see strong local representation in cabinet, with both the defence minister and prime minister elected in Ottawa ridings.

Sutcliffe predicted the federal government's commitment to increase defence spending could help grow Ottawa's existing defence technology industry — and help offset any stagnation in public service growth.

"I think there's a real opportunity for Ottawa from an economic development perspective, so I'm looking forward to working with Minister McGuinty on that," he said.

The Department of National Defence (DND) is one of the Ottawa region's largest employers. Nationwide, its workforce is the second-largest among the federal government's core departments.

DND headquarters is in Ottawa, and military bases across the region include CFB Trenton and Garrison Petawawa.

McGuinty was born and raised in Ottawa in a family of 12. His brother Dalton McGuinty was premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013.

Elsewhere in the region, Gatineau MP Steven MacKinnon was named Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.

There are other changes to some key portfolios for the Ottawa area: Joël Lightbound is the new minister of government transformation, public works and procurement, while Shafqat Ali will take over as Treasury Board president.

Sutcliffe said he will raise the city's major challenges to the new cabinet, including efforts to revitalize downtown Ottawa and the ByWard Market, as well as options for repurposing empty federal government buildings.

"We're in lockstep on what the priorities are," he said.