‘Need to signal change’: Prime Minister Mark Carney to unveil new cabinet Tuesday

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to unveil his new cabinet at Rideau Hall on Tuesday — and it’s expected to be a slimmed-down front bench meant to signal a more businesses-minded approach to government.

Rideau Hall confirmed the timing of the swearing-in ceremony on Friday.

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Marci Surkes of the government relations firm Compass Rose Group said Carney will seek to draw a sharp contrast between his government and that of former prime minister Justin Trudeau — and about one-third of the new cabinet could be new faces.

“He actually does need to signal some form of change,” she said. “While Mr. Carney himself embodies change, he is surrounded at this point with a ministry of individuals who served under the previous prime minister and the previous government.”

Carney also has to carefully consider who he might drop from cabinet — given the trade turbulence unleashed by U.S. President Donald Trump and a public opinion environment that soured on Trudeau and his government.

Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly were both prominent figures in Trudeau’s cabinets. They have cultivated relationships with key contacts in the Trump administration, such as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and are considered to have deep knowledge of their files.

“The tough decision points here for Mr. Carney are how many of these veterans, who do have deep value, can you maintain when you are trying to signal change and trying to signal that you’re trimming the size,” Surkes said.

During the election campaign, the Conservatives frequently accused Carney of being cut from the same cloth as the unpopular Trudeau and speculated that his cabinet would have the same faces and pursue the same policies.

Surkes also said Carney has the ability to build a cabinet that is “truly reflective of every region of this country” because Canadians elected Liberal MPs from every province and from the North.

The Liberals attracted some star election candidates who could be elevated to cabinet on Tuesday. They include former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson, Quebec’s former finance minister Carlos Leitão and prominent gun control advocate Nathalie Provost.

Buckley Belanger, a former NDP MLA, secured the Liberal Party its only seat in Saskatchewan in the general election. (980 CJME file photo)

Saskatchewan MP among those to watch

Other notable Liberals to watch include Jill McKnight, former head of the Delta Chamber of Commerce in B.C., and Buckley Belanger, the first federal Liberal elected in Saskatchewan since 2019.

Carlene Variyan of Summa Strategies said it’s rare to have “this quantity of fresh talent” come in for a government’s fourth term.

“Canadians, I think, are willing to give (Carney) a lot of rope at this point to do what he believes needs to be done, and that includes everything from significantly shaking up who in the Liberal caucus has a cabinet position to bigger things like policy moves,” she said.

“If I am Mark Carney and his senior team, I am probably doing my cabinet planning knowing that this is my one opportunity to make big changes.”

Carney also has committed to gender parity in his cabinet — a standard established by Trudeau when he took office in 2015.

Carney’s first cabinet, named in March shortly after he won the Liberal leadership, was smaller than Trudeau’s last cabinet. It did not include a minister for women, gender equality and youth or a minister of labour — two roles that were included in Trudeau’s cabinet.

Sen. Marilou McPhedran said she will be “watching closely” to see whether a minister for women is named this time.

“To say that the programs are still there, without any real mechanism, or anyone in primary authority, I just think it’s a really old-fashioned way of thinking,” McPhedran said, adding that cabinets “signal where someone’s priorities are.”

Variyan suggested Carney might bring back minister of state positions — essentially junior cabinet ministers with lower salaries, smaller office budgets, fewer staff members and less power.

“That’s a way to bring more people into the tent without totally ballooning the size of cabinet,” she said.

Some MPs have close ties to Carney

Some new and returning MPs also have close ties to the prime minister.

Tim Hodgson, elected in the Ontario riding of Markham—Thornhill, was CEO of Goldman Sachs Canada when Carney worked there and was an adviser to Carney when he was governor of the Bank of Canada.

Carney is godfather to Chrystia Freeland’s son. Freeland played a central role in the last government and ran against Carney for the party leadership.

Trump went out of his way to call her “terrible” this week during his face-to-face meeting with Carney.

Parliament is slated to return May 26 and Carney has announced that King Charles will deliver the speech from the throne the next day.

— by Catherine Morrison and Kyle Duggan, with files from Nick Murray

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