When Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled his new cabinet this week, there were 15 fresh faces among the group. There were also 13 who had served in the previous cabinet of Justin Trudeau.
Carney insists his cabinet strikes the right balance between “new perspectives” and experienced voices, but opposition critics have seized on the Trudeau-era holdovers as evidence that the new Liberal government represents more of the same.
“There is a great deal of change in this cabinet, by necessity,” Carney said after Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall. “Canadians voted for change, and part of it is bringing in those new perspectives.
“But it also means that half of the cabinet has experience,” he added. “Perhaps they were in different roles, but they are going to be around the table.… Half and half, for me it’s perfect.”
Many of those old hands have assumed roles that will be instrumental as Carney attempts to implement his agenda, particularly transforming Canada’s economy in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
Anita Anand, who held several cabinet posts in the Trudeau government, is one of the ministers leading Canada-U.S. relations in her role as Foreign Affairs minister. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc are keeping similar roles, as is Transport and Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Defence Minister David McGuinty and Gary Anandasangaree, who takes over the Public Safety portfolio, are also former Trudeau ministers, as is new Industry Minister Mélanie Joly.
Sean Fraser, Steven Guilbeault, Patty Hajdu, Steven MacKinnon, Joanne Thompson and Rechie Valdez are also holdovers from the previous cabinet.
That continuity prompted Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to criticize Carney’s front bench for its resemblance to that of the former prime minister.
“The first disappointment is, unfortunately, his cabinet,” Poilievre said Tuesday. “He appointed Trudeau’s old team and Trudeau’s old advisers.”
The Conservatives’ deputy leader Melissa Lantsman posted a photo on social media showing the front rows at the new cabinet’s swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday. They consisted solely of ministers who were also part of Trudeau’s cabinet.
“No, you’re not mistaken, this picture is from today,” Lantsman quipped.
No, you’re not mistaken, this picture is from today. <a href=”https://t.co/DVHNGb5TYK”>pic.twitter.com/DVHNGb5TYK</a>
—@MelissaLantsman
Guilbeault told Nil Köksal on CBC Radio’s As It Happens that the cabinet needs experience alongside new blood.
“If you got rid of all previous cabinet ministers, many people would have said, ‘These are all new people, where are all the people who have experience with cabinet?” Guilbeault said.
Stéphanie Chouinard, an associate professor of political science at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont., said the new faces are necessary to show Canadians that a new chapter has begun — but the rookies must hit the ground running.
At the same time, returning ministers will need to show they have what it takes to carry out their new mandates.
“It’s going to be up to every single one of these ministers to show they can advance the mandate that has been given to them,” Chouinard said. “If they don’t deliver, I think they’ll be hearing from the boss sooner rather than later.”
Two of Carney’s key ministers, Anand and Fraser, had announced their intentions to exit federal politics before the election. Now, they serve as the ministers of foreign affairs and justice, respectively.
Fraser, who ran the housing and immigration portfolios under Trudeau, announced his departure in December because of the strain the job placed on his family life.
Anand was president of the Treasury Board, a role she said was central to reining in federal government spending. She had planned to return to her previous career as a law professor when Trudeau resigned, but reversed course as the tide began to turn for the Liberals under Carney’s leadership.
The new cabinet has 29 ministers including Carney, with eight rookie MPs jumping straight to the front bench. They’ll be supported by 10 secretaries of states.
Carney said Tuesday that he wants his cabinet to reflect Canada “in all its diversity and grandeur and experience.”
“I don’t want a cabinet that just looks like me,” he said.
