Half of Carney’s 28-minister cabinet drawn from Trudeau’s inner circle

By Quinn Patrick

Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled his new cabinet of 28 ministers, half of whom were in former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s inner circle.

Governor General Mary Simon swore in several new faces at Rideau Hall on Tuesday morning, including ten secretaries of state.

“Canada’s new Ministry is built to deliver the change Canadians want and deserve. Everyone is expected and empowered to show leadership – to bring new ideas, a clear focus, and decisive action to their work,” said Carney in a statement. 

The cabinet will be divided into two groups of 28 senior ministers, who will hold major portfolios, and up to 10 secretaries of state or junior ministers.

The so-called “true gender parity” cabinet is composed of 14 men and 14 women.

Regionally, there are 14 members from Ontario, nine from Quebec, five from B.C., two from Nova Scotia, and one from Saskatchewan.

François-Phillipe Champagne was sworn in as minister of finance and national revenue.

Anita Anand was appointed to be the new minister of foreign affairs.

David McGuinty became the minister of national defence.

Sean Fraser became minister of justice and attorney general of Canada and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

Chrystia Freeland was sworn in as minister of transport and internal trade.

Gary Anandasangaree was appointed as minister of public safety.

Marjorie Michel was sworn in as the minister of health.

Dominic LeBlanc, who served as minister of intergovernmental affairs, had Canada-U.S. trade and intergovernmental affairs and one Canadian economy added to his ministerial profile.

Shafqat Ali was sworn in as the president of the treasury board, marking his first cabinet post.

Lena Metlege Diab became the minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship.

Julie Dabrusin was sworn in as the minister of environment and climate change.

Rebecca Alty was appointed the minister of Crown-Indigenous relations.

Mandy Gull-Masty was sworn in as the minister of Indigenous services.

Rebecca Chartrand became minister of the Arctic and Northern affairs.

Steven Guilbeault retained his role as minister of Canadian identity, culture and official languages.

Patty Hadju was sworn in as the minister of jobs and families and the federal economic agency for Northern Ontario.

Mélanie Joly was shuffled from the foreign ministry to minister of industry and Canada economic development of Quebec regions.

Joël Lightbound was sworn in as minister of government transformation, public works and procurement, entering Cabinet for the first time.

Heath MacDonald was sworn in as the minister of agriculture and agri-food.

Jill McKnight became the minister of veterans affairs and associate minister of national defence.

Eleanor Olszewski became the minister of emergency management and community resilience and the minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada.

Rechie Valdez was appointed as the minister of women and gender equality and retained her position as secretary of state for small business and tourism.

Joanne Thompson maintained her position as the minister of fisheries.

Gregor Robertson was sworn in as the minister of housing and infrastructure.

Backbencher Maninder Sidhu became the minister of international trade.

Steven Mackinnon was sworn in as the leader of the government in the House of Commons.

First-time MP and former Goldman Sachs Canada head and Carney advisor Tim Hodgson was appointed minister of natural resources and energy.

Former journalist and radio host Evan Solomon was sworn in as the minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation and minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.

Eleven ministers from Carney’s March cabinet were not selected, despite 10 of them retaining their seats following last month’s election, including Bill Blair, Jonathan Wilkinson, Jean-Yves Duclos, Terry Duguid and others. 

Ten new secretaries of state were also appointed to serve in junior roles, including Ruby Sahota was appointed as secretary of state for combatting crime and Nathalie Provost as secretary of nature.

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