Today in Ottawa, newly elected Liberal Party of Canada Leader Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada’s 24th Prime Minister, along with his new leaner federal Cabinet. The creation of a Cabinet is always a complex exercise, which attempts to ensure proportionate representation that mirrors Canada’s diverse population and regions. This is increasingly complex following a leadership election, with key campaign supporters to be rewarded, and also when a government is heading into an election and looking to feature the team that will return them to power. This has resulted in some well-known faces to portray a steady ship navigating the increasingly rough seas created by U.S. President Trump’s daily assaults on countries around the world, with Canada as one of his primary targets. These include Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Minister of International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc, along with new Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, replaced at Innovation, Science and Industry by Anita Anand, who recently decided to run again under Prime Minister Carney after initially announcing she would not stand for re-election under Justin Trudeau.
Notably, Prime Minister Carney found room in his downsized Cabinet for former leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland as Transport and Internal Trade Minister, but not for former Minister Karina Gould. New faces include Agriculture Minister Kody Blois and Canada’s first Iranian-Canadian Minister, the Honourable Ali Ehsassi, who replaces Jean-Yves Duclos at Government Transformation, Public Services and Procurement, with new portfolios for Health Minister Kamal Khera, Immigration Minister Rachel Bendayan and Veterans Affairs Minister Élisabeth Brière, who also retains responsibility for the Canada Revenue Agency.
While Parliament was prorogued by the Governor General on January 6, 2025, at the request of former Prime Minister Trudeau, it is widely expected that Prime Minister Carney will call an election before its scheduled return on March 24, which would dramatically alter the long-standing plans of the federal Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition Pierre Poilievre to oversee a vote of non-confidence in the House of Commons before the end of the month. Regardless of how or when, Canadians should expect a federal election to begin in the coming weeks, with a new Government in place, whether Liberal or Conservative, before the summer.
Please see the link below for a complete Cabinet list.
Related Links:
Swearing-in of the 30th Canadian Ministry | Prime Minister of Canada
We’re Here to Help
For more information and insights about what these developments mean for Canada’s political landscape, please contact:
Tara Bingham – Vice-President
tara@prairieskystrategy.ca
204.390.7760
Tom Lukiwski – Senior Strategy Advisor
tom@prairieskystrategy.ca
306.501.7933
Paul Merriman – Senior Counsel
paul@prairieskystrategy.ca
306.281.2987
Richard Truscott – Vice-President
richard@prairieskystrategy.ca
403.998.0494
To learn more about Prairie Sky Strategy, please visit our website.
