Carney reveals new pick for foreign minister in cabinet shake-up
Canada has a new foreign affairs minister in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet as relations with the U.S. remain tense.
Anita Anand is taking on the foreign affairs role, replacing Melanie Joly, in Carney’s first cabinet shuffle following the federal election last month.
Joly was among those who joined Carney on his recent trip to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Donald Trump. She’s been shifted to the role of minister of industry and minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for the Quebec regions.
Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne was also on that trip but remains in his role, while adding the role of minister of national revenue to his responsibilities.
The other member of that trip, Dominic LeBlanc, keeps his roles as intergovernmental affairs but is also listed as the minister responsible for “One Canada economy” and will be responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, likely taking a key role in negotiations with the Trump administration. He will also serve as president of the King’s Privy Council for Canada.
Sean Fraser, the former housing minister under former prime minister Justin Trudeau who quit and said he would not run again before changing his mind, has been brought back to the front bench as minister of justice and attorney general of Canada.
Among the other ministers previously in Carney’s cabinet who are returning once more are:
- Gary Anandasangaree becomes minister of public safety
- Chrystia Freeland stays as minister of transportation and internal trade
- Steven Guilbeault stays on as minister of Canadian identity and culture and minister responsible for Official Languages
- Patty Hajdu becomes minister of jobs and families and minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario
- Steven MacKinnon becomes government house leader
- David McGuinty takes on the role of defence minister
- Joanne Thompson remains as fisheries minister
- Rechie Valdez becomes minister of women and gender equality
Alongside the 12 ministers who stayed in cabinet, another 16 new members were sworn into their roles, including Fraser.
Those include:
- Shafqat Ali is the president of the Treasury Board
- Rebecca Alty is minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations
- Rebecca Chartrand becomes minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs and minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency
- Julie Dabrusin is minister of environment and climate change
- Mandy Gull-Masty is minister of Indigenous services
- Tim Hodgson is minister of energy and natural resources
- Joel Lightbound is minister of government transformation, public works and procurement
- Heath MacDonald becomes minister of agriculture and agri-food
- Jill McKnight is minister of veterans affairs and associate minister of national defence
- Lena Metlege Diab is minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship
- Marjorie Michel is minister of health
- Eleanor Olszewski becomes minister of emergency management and community resilience and minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada
- Gregor Robertson becomes housing minister, also responsible for infrastructure, and becomes minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada
- Maninder Sidhu is minister of international trade
- Evan Solomon is minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation, and responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency of Southern Ontario
More than half of those entering cabinet, however, are new MPs – some of whom were elected for the first time this year.
But in addition to the typical cabinet ministers, 10 MPs were named as “secretaries of state,” with these members to support various portfolios while not attending cabinet meetings.
“Secretaries of State are sworn to the Privy Council and are members of the Ministry. As such, they are bound by collective responsibility. They are not, however, members of the Cabinet. Secretaries of State are assigned to assist Cabinet Ministers in specific areas within their portfolios,” said a record of the roles when they were last used under former prime minister Jean Chretien.
“Secretaries of State are paid 75 per cent of a Cabinet Minister’s salary. For legal purposes, the Secretaries of State are formally appointed as Ministers of State to Assist.”
The job of a secretary of state in Carney’s cabinet will be to support the cabinet, who will “provide dedicated leadership on key issues and priorities within their minister’s portfolio.”
The secretaries of state are:
- Buckley Belanger as secretary of state for rural development
- Stephen Fuhr will handle defence procurement
- Anna Gainey will take on children and youth
- Wayne Long will handle Canada Revenue Agency and financial institutions
- Stephanie McLean is tasked with seniors
- Nathalie Provost is handling nature
- Ruby Sahota will tackle combatting crime
- Randeep Sarai is international development
- Adam van Koeverden will be responsible for sport
- John Zerucelli will assist on labour
— with files from Global News’ Sean Boynton
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