Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister in a ceremony at Rideau Hall on Friday morning, along with a leaner Liberal cabinet that he said is focused on “meeting the moment” and facing down the threat posed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
In his first press conference as prime minister, Carney said his government will concentrate on growing the economy, making life more affordable and making the country more secure.
“One of the top issues, of course, is the crisis with respect to the United States, and the opportunity with respect to trade diversification,” he said.
He said keeping together the core team of ministers who have been dealing with Trump’s tariff threats was very important.
François-Philippe Champagne has been named finance minister, while Anita Anand took over his former portfolio as minister of innovation, science and industry.
Dominic LeBlanc was named minister of international trade and intergovernmental affairs and president of the King’s Privy Council.
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Mélanie Joly—who was set to be sworn in later in the day after wrapping up the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Charlevoix, Que.—will stay on as minister of foreign affairs and take on international development.
David McGuinty held his job as public safety minister and took on the added role of emergency preparedness.
Carney said French President Emmanuel Macron has invited him to visit Paris “in the coming days” and he will also travel to London to talk about trade and security.
He said he has no immediate plans to visit Washington to meet with Trump but added he looks forward to speaking with him.
“We respect the United States. We respect President Trump. President Trump has put some very important issues at the top of his agenda. We understand his agenda,” Carney said.
He also said he and Trump share some experiences, including working in real estate and the private sector.
As he walked into his first cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill Friday afternoon, Carney revealed the government’s first item of business: “We’re going to deal with the carbon tax.”
Carney pledged during the Liberal leadership race to end the consumer carbon price—which has become deeply unpopular—while maintaining the industrial price paid by big polluters.
The consumer price is set through regulations and could be reset to $0 per tonne by an order-in-council without the need to recall Parliament or repeal any laws.
Carney’s new government includes 20 Trudeau-era ministers along with three new faces from the Liberal caucus.
Chrystia Freeland, whose December resignation as finance minister was the catalyst for Trudeau’s decision to step down, is now transport minister. She came in a very distant second to Carney in the Liberal leadership race last Sunday.
Steven Guilbeault was moved from the environment file to become minister of a renamed portfolio: Canadian culture and identity. He’s also heading up Parks Canada and serving as the government’s Quebec lieutenant.
Gary Anandasangaree is still minister of Crown-Indigenous relations and northern affairs, but he also took on the job of justice minister and attorney general.
Bill Blair stayed on as defence minister and Patty Hajdu remains minister of indigenous services. Kamal Khera moved to health, Steven MacKinnon is minister of jobs and families and Rachel Bendayan now runs immigration, refugees and citizenship.
Among the new faces are Ontario MP Arielle Kayabaga, who is now government House leader and minister of democratic institutions, and Nova Scotia MP Kody Blois, minister of agriculture and agri-food and rural development.
Ontario MP Ali Ehsassi was named minister of public services and procurement and minister of “government transformation”—a new title.
There are 13 men and 11 women in cabinet. It includes no representatives from Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan or Alberta.
When asked about that regional representation, Carney said the entire cabinet is smaller but pointed out that Freeland, who lives in Toronto, is originally from Alberta.
“And I’m prime minister of all of Canada, of course,” he said.
The cabinet no longer includes a minister of women, gender equality and youth, a minister of diversity, inclusion and persons with disabilities, or a minister of mental health and addictions.
Eight Trudeau-era ministers who were not planning to run in the next election—including Mark Holland, Arif Virani and Lawrence MacAulay—were not named to Carney’s cabinet, along with nine former ministers who are running.
This cabinet is expected to be in place when a general election is launched—likely before March 24, the date Parliament is set to resume.
Carney would not hint at when a federal election call may come, saying with a smile that Canadians should expect to go to the polls before November. The fixed election date is set for October.
Susan Smith, co-founder of Bluesky Strategy Group, said she thinks Carney is trying “to signal both stability and a change in economic direction” with his cabinet picks.
She said moving Guilbeault out of the environment role is “a major, major shift” that will make “a lot of people very happy,” and also seems to signal that Carney will take a different approach to the energy sector.
Some high-profile Trudeau ministers who were not invited to be part of Carney’s government include Marc Miller, Jean-Yves Duclos, Ahmed Hussen and Diane Lebouthillier.
Smith said Miller was “extremely effective” as a spokesperson for the government.
“If he’s temporarily not in cabinet, he can focus exclusively on a campaign,” she said.
Former prime minister Jean Chrétien said he thinks Carney will do very well in the top job.
“He has a lot of experience and he (has) proved himself,” he told reporters as he arrived for the ceremony on Friday.
Chrétien said Carney will have to adjust every day “because (President Trump) has to be in the news every day.”
His advice: “Do your best.”
