Carney sworn in as prime minister with a reworked cabinet filled with new faces
18 ministers are not returning to the cabinet as the new PM puts his stamp on government
Prime Minister Mark Carney made his first major move as the country's head of government on Friday by appointing a cabinet filled with some new faces and old hands in new roles, as he tries to put his own stamp on the Liberal brand.
The Justin Trudeau era is officially over after nine-plus years; the Carney one has just begun, and the new prime minister's cabinet picks reflect that transfer of power.
Eighteen Trudeau government cabinet ministers are not returning to cabinet, either because they have decided not to run in the next election or because Carney replaced them with someone else as he put together a much smaller cabinet.
Carney dropped some Trudeau stalwarts altogether from this new 24-member transition cabinet, including Jean-Yves Duclos, Karina Gould, Mark Holland, Ahmed Hussen, Marc Miller and Diane Lebouthillier, while others, like new Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland, have been demoted to arguably more junior roles.
He's also dropped Freeland's old job, deputy prime minister, altogether — there won't be one in this ministry.
There's still considerable overlap with Trudeau's last cabinet. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly stays where she is, as does Jonathan Wilkinson at Natural Resources, and Dominic LeBlanc will retain the Canada-U.S. file as Carney's new international trade minister.
Carney's team says that's because he wants some continuity in key files as the country grapples with a series of acute challenges.
Promotions, demotions
François-Philippe Champagne, who has also been active on Canada's plan to fight back against U.S. President Donald Trump, gets a promotion and will become Carney's finance minister. Anita Anand takes over Champagne's old job as minister of innovation, science and industry.
Steven Guilbeault, an ardent defender of the carbon tax, is out as the environment minister and will take on a different job: minister of Canadian culture and identity. He will also serve as Carney's Quebec lieutenant.
Some new ministers who were only sworn in late last year after Freeland's shock resignation are also staying on, including Public Safety Minister David McGuinty and Nate Erskine-Smith as housing minister.
Three new faces are stepping into the spotlight as new cabinet ministers. London-area MP Arielle Kayabaga becomes the government House leader, Toronto MP Ali Ehsassi is the new public services and procurement minister and Nova Scotia MP Kody Blois, who led the charge against some aspects of the carbon tax, will serve as the agriculture minister.
Carney himself, of course, never sat in Trudeau's cabinet, which was part of his appeal to some Liberal voters who wanted a clean break from the past.
Carney's smaller cabinet is not perfectly gender equal as it was under Trudeau — there are 13 men and 11 women, including Carney — and some provinces don't have a minister around the table, including Alberta, P.E.I. and Saskatchewan.
The cabinet rebrand is Carney's chance to show the voting public he's his own man, especially as the opposition Conservatives try to paint his team as the new face of the "Trudeau-Carney Liberals" to try and tie the new prime minister to the old one.
Speaking to reporters after the swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall, Carney said he's assembled something of a wartime cabinet, with a smaller team of what he described as top-tier talent who can help "our nation in the midst of this crisis" as it stares down an annexationist U.S. president.
"Canada's new government is focused on things that matter most to Canadians — more higher-paying jobs, improving affordability and making Canada more secure," he said. "Canada will be action-oriented to meet the moment."
He signalled there will be a break from some Liberal policies of the recent past, saying the country should expect a formal order to dismantle the consumer carbon tax later this afternoon.
Carney said, on his watch, "the government will spend less so Canada can invest more," a reference to his campaign promise to curb the growth of government and follow fiscal prudence.
Carney said he wants to build more homes, make Canada an energy superpower, dismantle internal trade barriers and build new trade corridors to "reliable partners."
To that end, Carney said he's accepted invitations from the leaders of France and the U.K. to meet right away to discuss improving trade and security ties.
He justified the travel before an expected election as a way to urgently diversify trade, as Canada grapples with a new dynamic in the U.S. with Trump levying punishing tariffs on Canadian goods while promising even more to come.
Carney also called Trump's 51st state taunts "crazy."
"We will never, ever — in any way, shape or form — be part of the United States," he said.
Carney also took a swipe at Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, saying his opponent is negative about everything.
"We will relentlessly pursue this positive agenda because Canadians know that negativity isn't strength," he said. "Negativity won't bring down the price of groceries. Negativity won't win a trade war."
'Carney thinks Canadians are stupid,' Poilievre says
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said there's nothing really different between Carney and Trudeau given many of "Carbon Tax Carney's" ministers were also in the most recent Trudeau cabinet.
He said the last Liberal government hiked the carbon tax, doubled the national debt, caused food bank usage and housing prices to spike — and another vote for that party would deliver more of the same.
"Mark Carney thinks Canadians are stupid. He thinks a little bit of cosmetic surgery will allow the Liberals to disguise who they are and make people forget what they did for 10 years in order to elect them to a fourth term," Poilievre told reporters.
"It's the same Liberal gang and same Liberal agenda," he said.
Asked about recent public opinion polling that shows the Conservatives are slumping while the Carney-led Liberals are on the upswing, Poilievre said Canadians can't afford another Liberal term and that's the message he will make on the campaign trail.
He said he doesn't trust Carney's commitment to do away with the consumer carbon tax, suggesting it could come back again at some point if the Liberals win again.
- How do you feel about Mark Carney as Canada's 24th prime minister? Share your thoughts in an email to ask@cbc.ca.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he was disappointed there's no cabinet ministers with titles that explicitly references women's rights, diversity and inclusion.
While Steven MacKinnon is Carney's "jobs" minister, Singh said he was concerned there's no "labour" minister.
Singh said that "really sends a message that he doesn't value labour at a time when workers are at a crossroads," he said.
"A Mark Carney government is a race to the right between Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre," Singh said.
Carney has a very narrow window before an expected federal election to convince Canadians he has the best plan for the country as it stares down Trump's 51st state taunts and tariff threats — or he risks leading one of the shortest governments in history.
Carney has touted his experience as a central banker through the Great Recession — and, after being poached by the Bank of England, Brexit — as proof he's the best choice for the tumultuous times ahead.
But he has also faced pointed questions about his business experience — Brookfield, a company he chaired, moved its head office from Toronto to New York — and whether he's serious about dumping the consumer carbon tax, a policy the Conservatives have made the centrepiece of their campaign to unseat the Liberals.
It's widely believed Carney will call an election before March 24, when Parliament is scheduled to return from prorogation, meaning Canadians would vote in late April or early May.
While only a small amount of polling has been conducted since Carney easily beat his opponents to win at Sunday's Liberal leadership race, the CBC Poll Tracker suggests the gap between the Conservatives and Liberals is closing.
Here's the full list of cabinet ministers:
- Mark Carney: Prime Minister.
- Dominic LeBlanc: International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs and President of the King's Privy Council for Canada.
- Mélanie Joly: Foreign Affairs and International Development.
- François-Philippe Champagne: Finance.
- Anita Anand: Innovation, Science and Industry.
- Bill Blair: National Defence.
- Patty Hajdu: Indigenous Services.
- Jonathan Wilkinson: Energy and Natural Resources.
- Ginette Petitpas Taylor: President of the Treasury Board.
- Steven Guilbeault: Canadian Culture and Identity, Parks Canada and Quebec Lieutenant.
- Chrystia Freeland: Transport and Internal Trade.
- Kamal Khera: Health.
- Gary Anandasangaree: Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.
- Rechie Valdez: Chief Government Whip.
- Steven MacKinnon: Jobs and Families.
- David McGuinty: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.
- Terry Duguid: Environment and Climate Change.
- Nate Erskine-Smith: Housing, Infrastructure and Communities.
- Rachel Bendayan: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.
- Élisabeth Brière: Veterans Affairs and responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency.
- Joanne Thompson: Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.
- Arielle Kayabaga: Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Minister of Democratic Institutions.
- Kody Blois: Agriculture and Agri-Food and Rural Economic Development.
- Ali Ehsassi: Government Transformation, Public Services and Procurement.
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