PM Carney vows to lead with ‘urgency,’ as he unveils new cabinet with two dozen fresh faces

Prime Minister Mark Carney is framing his new cabinet, which includes two dozen new faces and several longtime ministers, as leaner and more focused than previous governments.

“We are starting as we aim to go on. Our government will deliver its mandate for change with urgency and determination,” Carney said outside of Rideau Hall following the cabinet swearing-in on Tuesday.

“We’re going to deliver that mandate with a new team purpose-built for this hinge moment in Canada‘s history,” he added. “This cabinet is smaller and more focused than those of previous governments.”

Just two seats shy of a majority government, Carney said his new government has a “strong mandate” that will focus on defining “a new economic and security relationship with the U.S.,” and “build a stronger economy for all Canadians.”

Among the rookies promoted to cabinet on Tuesday are former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson, Northwest Territories’ Rebecca Alty, Marjorie Michel, who was elected in former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s Papineau riding, and former special adviser to Carney at the Bank of Canada and Goldman Sachs CEO Tim Hodgson.

Also joining the front bench are former broadcaster Evan Solomon, lawyer and one of the Liberals’ two MPs in Alberta Eleanor Olszewski, and engineer and survivor of the École Polytechnique mass shooting Nathalie Provost.

There are also several returning longtime ministers from Trudeau’s cabinet, including François-Philippe Champagne, Dominic LeBlanc, Melanie Joly, Steven MacKinnon, Steven Guilbeault and Chrystia Freeland.

Carney lays out cabinet focus

During a post-shuffle press conference at Rideau Hall on Tuesday, Carney said he’s returning to a “more traditional cabinet,” with 10 secretaries of state who will support the smaller cabinet.

And, with a regionally-diverse cabinet, including members representing all the provinces and one territory, Carney said his government is “governing for all Canadians.”

The prime minister added it was intentional to find an even mix of rookies and experienced ministers.

“We need to balance experience and new perspectives,” he said. “Canadians voted for big change, not small change. They voted for big change.”

“And so, bringing a balance, which is what we have, of experience, perhaps in some cases in new roles, but experiences as cabinet ministers, and new voices, new perspectives, half and half, for me, it’s perfect,” he also said.

Carney also said he plans to follow through on his election promises to implement a tax cut for middle-class Canadians, eliminate the GST on some homes for first-time buyers, and double the rate of home-building.

He also reiterated a series of public safety and national defence spending promises.

Core Trudeau team keeps senior roles

Freeland — who spent more than five years as Trudeau’s top deputy — resigned last December amid escalating tensions with the prime minister. Despite running against him for the Liberal leadership, Freeland got a seat on Carney’s election-time caretaker cabinet in mid-March.

She’s staying on as minister of transport and internal trade.

LeBlanc, meanwhile, becomes minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, intergovernmental affairs, and One Canadian Economy. Throughout the election campaign, Carney pitched himself as the best candidate to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump, and promised to break down interprovincial trade barriers by Canada Day.

LeBlanc has been an MP since 2000 and a member of cabinet since 2015. He is a childhood friend of Trudeau’s and the son of former governor general Roméo LeBlanc.

And Anita Anand — who previously headed up procurement, national defence, and the treasury board — is taking over the foreign affairs file. This, amid an ongoing trade war with the United States.

Tapped to head up some of the biggest portfolios, including foreign affairs, finance, justice and defence, are a dozen prominent Trudeau-era cabinet ministers.

Meanwhile, housing, immigration, and energy and natural resources — three files on which Trudeau’s government faced harsh criticism — will be taken over by first-time ministers.

Carney has also appointed an associate minister of defence attached to the veterans affairs portfolio, along with a secretary of state of defence procurement, seemingly signalling a focus on the military and spending. Military spending was his most expensive campaign promise, totalling more than $18 billion over four years, according to his costed platform.

Carney also pledged to move up the date by which Canada will reach its NATO commitment to spend two per cent of GDP on defence, promising to do so at least two years ahead of Trudeau’s timeline.

Committing to uphold gender parity, a precedent set by his predecessor Trudeau, Carney’s cabinet is made up of 14 men and 14 women, excluding himself.

Heading into Rideau Hall ahead of the swearing-in, Carney said he was “ready to go,” when asked by reporters how he was feeling.

Who’s out

Carney’s decision to implement a two-tiered team — made up of a cabinet and ministry — marks the return to a practice used by past prime ministers, though not Trudeau.

The Prime Minister’s Office is framing it as a leaner and more focused cabinet made up of fewer members.

The prime minister’s cabinet is comprised of 28 people, and the ministry, of 10 people. Trudeau had a cabinet of 39 when he stepped down in January, whereas Carney had 24 people in the election-era caretaker cabinet he put in place in March.

Three MPs who were promoted to cabinet in mid-March — Arielle Kayabaga, Kody Blois and Ali Ehsassi — have been removed, giving them only eight and a half weeks on the front bench.

Others who Trudeau brought in during his late-December shuffle, including Terry Duguid, Nate Erskine-Smith, Rachel Bendayan and Elisabeth Briere, are also not on Carney’s list.

In a post to social media Erskine-Smith called it a “strange day” on his end, adding it is “impossible not to feel disrespected” by the decision to remove him from cabinet.

“The way it played out doesn’t sit right,” added Erskine-Smith, who was replaced by Robertson on the housing file. “But I’m mostly disappointed that my team and I won’t have the chance to build on all we accomplished with only a short runway.”

Two longtime Trudeau ministers will also not be joining Carney’s front bench.

Jonathan Wilkinson, who served as environment and climate change minister from 2019 to 2021, and as energy and natural resources minister as of 2021, confirmed on social media Tuesday he’s out of Carney’s cabinet.

“The privilege of serving this country over the past seven years remains one of the greatest honours of my life,” Wilkinson wrote in a statement posted to X.

Former Toronto Police Service chief and cabinet minister since 2018 Bill Blair is also no longer a member of cabinet. Most recently, Blair headed up the national defence portfolio.

Marci Surkes, the chief strategy officer and managing director at Compass Rose, said in an interview with CTV News on Monday that deciding who is going to be in the ministry “sets the tone for the entirety of the mandate.”

“The prime consideration for Mr. Carney is going to be ‘who has the skills to take the decisions and to lead at this critical moment for our country?’ Period. End of sentence,” said Surkes, who played key roles behind the scenes during Justin Trudeau’s tenure.

According to Nanos Research, meanwhile, the two top priorities for Canadians when the House of Commons returns at the end of the month are dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump, and cooperation among parliamentarians.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre weighs in

In a press conference on Parliament Hill on Tuesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre congratulated the ministers on their “one-in-a-million opportunity,” and said his party will take its role “of holding the government accountable seriously.”

“That doesn’t mean we reflexively oppose everything the government does,” Poilievre said. “When they are right, we’ll stand with them. When they’re wrong, we will oppose them. We hope the country succeeds. We want the nation to do well.”

While Poilievre said Carney “talked a good game” during his first press conference, he believes some of his cabinet picks are “not a promising start,” pointing specifically to Guilbeault, former immigration minister and newly appointed Justice Minister Sean Fraser, Freeland, and Robertson.

“We want to see dramatic changes, not soft reassurances,” Poilievre said. “We also have an offer to make the Liberals. My message to Mr. Carney: steal my ideas.”

The House of Commons is set to return on May 26, followed by the Speech from the Throne, which will be delivered by the King. In early June, Carney will take part in an in-person meeting with all the provincial and territorial premiers.

Here is the full list of Carney’s cabinet:

• Shafqat Ali, President of the Treasury Board
• Rebecca Alty, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations
• Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Public Safety
• Rebecca Chartrand, Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency
• François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue
• Julie Dabrusin, Minister of Environment and Climate Change
• Sean Fraser, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
• Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Transport and Internal Trade
• Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages
• Mandy Gull-Masty, Minister of Indigenous Services
• Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario
• Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
• Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
• Dominic LeBlanc, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs and One Canadian Economy
• Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement
• Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
• Steven MacKinnon, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
• David J. McGuinty, Minister of National Defence
• Jill McKnight, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence
• Lena Metlege Diab, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
• Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health
• Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada
• Gregor Robertson, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada
• Maninder Sidhu, Minister of International Trade
• Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
• Joanne Thompson, Minister of Fisheries
• Rechie Valdez, Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism)

Making up the ministry are 10 secretaries of state:

• Buckley Belanger, Secretary of State (Rural Development)
• Stephen Fuhr, Secretary of State (Defence Procurement)
• Anna Gainey, Secretary of State (Children and Youth)
• Wayne Long, Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)
• Stephanie McLean, Secretary of State (Seniors)
• Nathalie Provost, Secretary of State (Nature)
• Ruby Sahota, Secretary of State (Combatting Crime)
• Randeep Sarai, Secretary of State (International Development)
• Adam van Koeverden, Secretary of State (Sport)
• John Zerucelli, Secretary of State (Labour)

With files from CTV News’ Rachel Aiello, Stephanie Ha, Rachel Hanes and Colton Praill