Saturday, February 7, 2026
ADVT 
National

Five things to know about Prime Minister Mark Carney's new cabinet

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 14 Mar, 2025 04:50 PM
  • Five things to know about Prime Minister Mark Carney's new cabinet

Mark Carney was sworn in Friday as Canada's 24th prime minister in a ceremony in Rideau Hall, alongside his new cabinet.

Here are five things to know about the new prime minister's plans and his new cabinet.

Fewer ministers

The most noticeable difference between Justin Trudeau's cabinet and Carney's is its size. The new cabinet is made of 24 MPs — 13 men, including Carney, and 11 women. Trudeau's last cabinet had 37 members.

Carney said his cabinet has two main priorities: protecting Canadians from the effects of the trade war with the U.S. and reining in government spending.

Who's in, who's out? 

Carney's former leadership rival Chrystia Freeland was named minister of transportation and internal trade, but Karina Gould, the only other sitting MP on the leadership ballot, was left out. Gould left cabinet in January to join the race.

Internal trade has become a bigger priority since U.S. President Donald Trump began his trade war with Canada and much of the world. After being sworn in, Carney said that he wants to shift Canada from 13 economies to one national economy.

Nine ministers who previously talked about running for another term were left out: Marc Miller, Ahmed Hussen, Terry Beech, Diane Lebouthillier, Darren Fisher, Jenna Sudds, Ya'ara Saks, Jean-Yves Duclos and Ruby Sahota.

There are three new faces in the new cabinet: Agriculture Minister Kody Blois, Government Transformation Minister Ali Ehsassi and government House leader Arielle Kayabaga.

Carney's first international trip

Carney said that he will be heading to Europe in the coming days to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Carney said the focus of these talks will be to reinforce trade relationships between the two countries and discuss national security. He said that he will have similar discussions with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Carney said he received invitations to visit from France and the U.K.

The Republican elephant in the room

Carney said he has no current plan to travel to Washington to meet with President Donald Trump.

He said he intends to speak with him in the coming days but nothing has been scheduled.

Carney reiterated that Canada will never become a U.S. state — something that Trump has called for in exchange for lifting his tariffs.

Carney called the notion of Canada becoming a U.S. state "crazy."

The prime minister said that Canada is the United States' biggest commercial client, and clients "expect respect" and the ability to work together in a "proper" way.

He also made a specific move to appoint a new minister of Canadian culture and identity. The role is being filled by Steven Guilbeault, formerly the minister of environment, and replaces the heritage file.

Carney said the job will be focused on "reinforcing" all aspects of Canadian identity.

Ending the consumer carbon price

After suggesting he would remove the consumer carbon price by the end of the day, Carney signed an order-in-council Friday to terminate it "as of April 1, 2025."

Carney also said people who have been getting a rebate on the carbon price will get one final payment for the next quarter in April.

The price was scheduled to rise from $80 to $95 per tonne on April 1.

While Carney has long supported carbon pricing as an effective way to reduce emissions, he promised to end the consumer levy during his Liberal leadership campaign.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre made opposition to the carbon price a central theme of his attacks on the government, blamed it for cost of living increases and repeatedly called for a "carbon tax election."

When asked when Canadians can expect to go to the polls, Carney said "before November."

MORE National ARTICLES

Immigrant-owned firms suffer from productivity gap for variety of factors: StatCan

Immigrant-owned firms suffer from productivity gap for variety of factors: StatCan
Companies owned by newcomers to Canada tend to struggle taking their businesses to the next level more than Canadian-born founders, new data suggests. The report released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday explores barriers immigrants to Canada can face when starting and scaling a business. One of the most significant findings was around labour productivity — how much an individual can produce in an hour of work.

Immigrant-owned firms suffer from productivity gap for variety of factors: StatCan

Quebec caps international students but is hazy on numbers

Quebec caps international students but is hazy on numbers
Quebec is taking steps to cut the number of international students in the province, but can't say by how many. The government will issue a maximum of around 124,000 acceptance certificates to foreign students this year, down from more than 156,000 last year. The measure targets private colleges that the government has said are using education as a business model to sell citizenship. 

Quebec caps international students but is hazy on numbers

Polls suggest a close race as federal election approaches

Polls suggest a close race as federal election approaches
Multiple polls now suggest the next federal election — which could begin in a matter of weeks — will be a tight race. At least one major pollster has the Liberals in the lead and ahead of the Conservatives for the first time in nearly four years.

Polls suggest a close race as federal election approaches

Canada, Germany working on diversifying trade in face of U.S. threats

Canada, Germany working on diversifying trade in face of U.S. threats
Canadian companies and diplomats are working with their European colleagues to find ways to diversify trade as the U.S. threatens to impose steep tariffs. Germany's Ambassador to Canada Tjorven Bellmann says European ambassadors in Ottawa have been in touch with corporations on both sides of the Atlantic to discuss how they can boost trade.

Canada, Germany working on diversifying trade in face of U.S. threats

Supreme Court of Canada moving away from social media platform X

Supreme Court of Canada moving away from social media platform X
The Supreme Court of Canada says it's moving away from the social media platform X. In an apparent farewell post to its more than 45,000 subscribers, the top court says it will focus its communication efforts on other platforms.

Supreme Court of Canada moving away from social media platform X

The Tories say Carney is being 'sneaky' about his assets. What do the rules say?

The Tories say Carney is being 'sneaky' about his assets. What do the rules say?
In a series of press conferences in recent weeks, the federal Conservatives have demanded that Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney comply with the conflict of interest rules that apply to members of Parliament and cabinet ministers. Carney, who is neither an MP nor a member of cabinet, has said he will comply with the rules when they apply to him.

The Tories say Carney is being 'sneaky' about his assets. What do the rules say?