Will regional representation put Buckley Belanger in Carney’s new cabinet?

Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to unveil his new cabinet on Tuesday morning, with many wondering who will be in it and what the positions will signal.

According to multiple reports out of Ottawa, the cabinet will have 30 ministers and 10 junior ministers who will be called “secretaries of state.” It’s larger than the 24-person cabinet Carney formed before the election call, but smaller than the 39-person cabinet Justin Trudeau had before he resigned.

The new cabinet is expected to have gender parity and half the ministers are expected to be brand new to cabinet.

A prime minister often signals his priorities when picking out his ministers. Western premiers and energy leaders will be watching to see who is named as environment minister, given some of the promises Carney has made about keeping Canada’s energy industry flowing.

There will also potentially be considerations around regional representation, leading some to wonder whether Buckley Belanger, the first Liberal MP to represent Saskatchewan since 2019, might get a kick at the can.

Belanger is a seasoned politician, having served about 26 years in the Saskatchewan legislature. He first ran as a Liberal in 1995, won, and then switched to the NDP in 1998.

He served in the provincial NDP’s cabinet, holding the environment and resource management, and northern affairs files, and served as associate minister for intergovernmental and aboriginal affairs.

Belanger resigned his MLA seat in 2021 to run for the Liberals in the federal election. He lost in that election, but ran again this spring and won the northern riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River.

Carney is expected to unveil his cabinet picks at 8:30 a.m. local time.