OTTAWA – 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.
Mélanie Joly — who was 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 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.
Asked about Trump’s repeated threats to make Canada the 51st state, Carney was dismissive.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “We will never, ever, in any way, shape or form be part of the United States.”
Carney met with his cabinet Friday afternoon, where he signed off on an order-in-council to end the consumer carbon price on April 1.
He said Canadians who received a rebate in the past will get one final payment in April.
Carney had 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.
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 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, 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 Carney’s cabinet. It includes no representatives from Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan or Alberta.
When asked about 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.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the elimination of those ministries reveals a lot about Carney’s priorities.
“At a time when we do not have a plan for workers if they lose their job — 60 per cent of workers are not covered by EI — he doesn’t have a minister for labour. You might say it’s just a name. Well, the name means something,” he said.
Singh repeated his call for Parliament to return to pass legislation that would support workers affected by Trump’s tariffs.
Singh said the exclusion of Karina Gould, who ran against Carney in the leadership race, sends “a message to progressive Liberals that there’s no place for you in this new Liberal party.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said the new government is nearly identical to Trudeau’s.
”(Carney) thinks a little bit of cosmetic surgery will allow the Liberals to disguise who they are and make people forget what they did for 10 years in order to elect them to a fourth Liberal term,” he said.
Eight Trudeau-era ministers who were not planning to run in the next election 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 might come, saying with a smile that Canadians should expect to go to the polls before November. The fixed election date is set for October.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 14, 2025.
