Trudeau’s ‘fixer’ Dominic LeBlanc steps up for prime minister in time of crisis

OTTAWA — Dominic LeBlanc is helping Justin Trudeau hold the house together even as a growing number of Liberals turn on the prime minister.

As calls for Trudeau to resign grew louder following Chrystia Freeland’s shocking resignation Monday, LeBlanc headed over to Rideau Hall to be sworn in as the next finance minister.

It’s not the first time the New Brunswick Liberal has stepped up for the prime minister at a time of crisis.

Greg MacEachern of KAN Strategies, a longtime backroom Liberal operator in Ottawa who hails from the East Coast, calls LeBlanc the prime minister’s “trusted fixer.”

“I can’t think off the top of my head at any time that Dominic LeBlanc has made a situation or an issue worse,” he said. “He comes in. He does the job. He fixes things.”

Last year, LeBlanc agreed to become public safety minister after Marco Mendicino found himself in hot water for his handling of the Freedom Convoy and notorious killer Paul Bernardo’s transfer to a medium-security prison.

And four days after president-elect Donald Trump threatened 25 tariffs on all goods coming from Canada, LeBlanc quietly got on a plane with the prime minister to have dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

Besides his personal ties to Trudeau — LeBlanc babysat the prime minister when they were children — Liberals gush about how LeBlanc’s political chops and likability make him a reliable choice.

Former Liberal MP Scott Simms said LeBlanc’s secret sauce is that unlike politicians that just rattle off talking points, LeBlanc has a “natural instinct for communication.”

“Dominic has served in lots of other roles and is extremely well liked across caucus and across cabinet, and is regarded as having very good political skills,” said Tyler Meredith, a former head of economic strategy and planning for Freeland.

LeBlanc’s decision to take on the finance portfolio came at an exceptionally tense time for the Liberal government. Chaos erupted after Freeland resigned as finance minister on Monday — the same day she was scheduled to present the fall economic statement and just days after Trudeau told her she would be moved out of the finance job.

Calls for Trudeau to resign grew both from within the Liberal caucus and outside of it, prompting the prime minister to tell Liberal MPs that he will reflect on the situation and what he was hearing from them.

LeBlanc’s ability to approach difficult moments with levity was on full display Thursday during a news conference in New Brunswick about a health facility.

“I understand that we may take some questions from journalists. That’s the part of my day that I look forward to most of all. You can imagine I haven’t done a lot of that in the last few days,” LeBlanc quipped.

“And I’m sure all of the questions will be about this local facility. And none of you are going to look at your phones and read out a question that your colleagues in Ottawa or Toronto sent you.”

Zita Astravas, a former senior Liberal staffer now at Wellington Advocacy, described LeBlanc as a “very sharp operator,” a loyal soldier equally skilled at retail politics and managing adversaries.

“Dominic bleeds Liberal politics through and through,” she said. “He always provides sage counsel to the prime minister and his cabinet colleagues.”

LeBlanc grew up surrounded by politics, hailing from a political dynasty — the son of Roméo LeBlanc, a former Liberal minister in Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s cabinet later appointed governor general.

The stalwart Atlantic politician came up through the party ranks, working the Atlantic desk in the Prime Minister’s Office under Jean Chrétien, and won his seat through eight consecutive federal elections in New Brunswick.

The veteran MP had to take a pause from his duties in 2019 after he was diagnosed with a form of blood cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, though later that year stood for election and won his riding of Beausejour. That was the second health scare and form of cancer he rebounded from after a 2017 diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Now, he appears securely installed as Trudeau’s right hand with the top post in cabinet.

Brian Gallant, a former New Brunswick premier and personal friend, said LeBlanc was “underutilized” at the beginning of the Trudeau government. Gallant described LeBlanc as someone who is both affable and gritty, helping him rise in the ranks of cabinet to become the prime minister’s chief problem-solver.

“Dominic LeBlanc is definitely the Trudeau government’s fixer in the sense that he has numerous times taken on files that were ripe with controversy, were fraught with challenges, and found a pathway forward,” Gallant said.

LeBlanc quashed speculation Thursday that Mark Carney would join the government as finance minister, telling reporters the prime minister has guaranteed he will stay in the role until the next election.

LeBlanc’s name frequently comes up in coffee-house chatter and speculation among Liberals about who can one day succeed Trudeau as party leader. He even ran once in 2008 to replace Stéphane Dion as leader, though dropped out to endorse Michael Ignatieff.

“If he wants it, then he’s going to be top of the heap for the race that’s coming,” Simms said. “He’s probably suited better for PM than he is minister of finance.”

LeBlanc underscored Thursday that Trudeau still enjoys total backing from cabinet to remain at the helm.

Asked by a journalist Thursday if he would want to lead the country if given the chance, LeBlanc coyly dismissed the notion.

“Full points for trying with that question. If the prime minister has the full support of his cabinet, then why would we contemplate what happens after he decides to leave?”

Gallant said LeBlanc is highly qualified to become the next Liberal leader and would have a good chance at success, given his ability to connect with nearly anyone. But the former premier said his odds of winning a federal election would likely still be slim, given the momentum Conservatives have gained over the Liberals.

“There’s a long history of governments being at this sort of mark of their tenure, having difficulties getting re-elected. There’s history that even in that scenario, when you change a leader, it doesn’t necessarily change the outcome,” Gallant said.

“So it is definitely a hard hill to climb.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2024.

Nojoud Al Mallees and Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press