Carney unveils Cabinet aimed at resetting US-Canada ties
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney watching as ministers were sworn in at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on May 13.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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OTTAWA – Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who won an election in April
Mr Carney cut the number of ministers to 29 from the 39 under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, but kept some key players in their positions, such as Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and Mr Dominic LeBlanc, who is in charge of US trade.
He moved Ms Melanie Joly from foreign affairs to industry after four years, and replaced her with Ms Anita Anand.
“Canadians elected this new government with a strong mandate to define a new economic and security relationship with the United States (and) to build a stronger economy,” Mr Carney’s office said in a statement.
“This focused team will act on this mandate for change with urgency and determination.”
Mr Carney met Mr Trump in Washington
Mr Carney says Canada must spend billions to start shifting the economy’s focus away from the US, as well as end barriers to internal trade and cut public spending.
Calling for action on issues such as regulatory reform and trade diversification, Mr Matthew Holmes, policy chief at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said: “Right now, the business of government must be business... (We are) eager to work with the new government and all parties to tackle urgent nation-building goals.”
Ms Chrystia Freeland, whose resignation as finance minister in December 2024 helped oust an increasingly unpopular Mr Trudeau, keeps her job as Minister of Transport and Internal Trade.
Former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Hodgson takes over as Natural Resources Minister, replacing Mr Jonathan Wilkinson, who was dropped from the Cabinet. As well as the Cabinet ministers, Mr Carney named 10 more junior secretaries of state.
His immediate promises are a tax cut and ending all trade barriers among the 10 provinces by July 1.
Ms Anita Anand being sworn in as Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs on May 13.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Liberal platform, which promises additional spending of around C$130 billion (S$121 billion) over the next four years, predicts that the 2025 to 2026 deficit will be C$62.3 billion, far higher than the C$42.2 billion forecast in December 2024.
Mr Carney abolished the position of labour minister and replaced it with a secretary of state for labour, a move the Teamsters union called deeply confusing and concerning.
Union spokesman Christopher Monette said via e-mail: “It suggests the Carney government is underestimating the scale of the challenges facing Canadian workers in the years ahead.”
The Trudeau government had to deal with several major labour disputes and in 2024, intervened to end separate strikes by port, railway and postal workers. REUTERS
