Notable changes to that cabinet included moving former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland to minister of transport and internal trade; Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault becoming Quebec lieutenant and minister of Canadian culture and identity, Parks Canada; and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree retaining his position as well as becoming the justice minister and attorney general.
Carney also reduced the size of cabinet from 39 to 24 member. Several ministers that had been in cabinet under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not make it in, such as Immigration Minister Marc Miller, Procurement Minister and Quebec Lieutenant Jean-Yves Duclos, and former House leader and Liberal leadership contender Karina Gould.
The Liberal government is in discussions with the United States to bring an end to the trade dispute between the two countries, and some ministers have already been involved in related meetings with senior U.S. officials. Carney did not say whether they will keep their positions in the new cabinet.
During Carney’s visit to the White House on May 6, he was accompanied by Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, and Public Safety Minister David McGuinty.
During a May 2 press conference on Parliament Hill, Carney was asked if his new cabinet would be larger than his first one, and he responded he would be putting together an “efficient cabinet.”
Carney also said that his cabinet would have an equal number of men and women. When former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was first elected back in 2015, his first cabinet had an equal number of men and women.
Carney would not confirm to reporters whether François-Philippe Champagne would remain as finance minister.
“Did he ask you?” Carney joked. “Those final decisions haven’t been made. So Mr. Champagne, he will have to wait,” he said.
