Carney speaks after unveiling new cabinet | CBC News Special
Rosemary Barton, CBC News chief political correspondent, hosts special coverage after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new cabinet was sworn in.
The Latest
Smaller, focused cabinet is Prime Minister Mark Carney’s second — but his first since being elected.New cabinet has 28 ministers, supported by 10 secretaries of state. It includes a mix of many new faces and some veterans.The 24 new names include Shafqat Ali, Jill McKnight, Tim Hodgson, Eleanor Olszewski, Mandy Gull-Masty, Joël Lightbound, Gregor Robertson, Evan Solomon, Wayne Long and Nathalie Provost.Thirteen are newly elected MPs. There are 10 secretaries of state, nine of whom are new faces.Anita Anand takes over as foreign affairs minister, replacing Mélanie Joly who heads to industry. David McGuinty takes on national defence, replacing Bill Blair.Veterans François-Philippe Champagne, Chrystia Freeland and Dominic LeBlanc keep existing roles.Carney is taking questions from the media. Then Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will react to the appointments.Updates
May 13
4 minutes ago
Middle-class tax cut coming before Canada Day: Carney
Catharine Tunney
The prime minister says he will move quickly to pass a middle-class tax cut by Canada Day.
It’s a promise he made on Day 1 of the election campaign and involves reducing the marginal tax rate on the lowest tax bracket by one percentage point.
5 minutes ago
‘Purpose built’
Verity Stevenson
Carney says the cabinet is “purpose built for this hinge moment in history.” At 28 ministers, he said, it is “smaller and more focused than those in previous governments.”
Adopting the two-tiered structure, though, Carney said, is a “return to more traditional cabinet government,” with secretaries of state.
8 minutes ago
Carney says Canadians sent him a message
Catharine Tunney
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to reporters outside Rideau Hall after the cabinet swearing-in. (CBC)Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government was elected to take on Trump and build up Canada’s economy, but also said voters spent a clear message about affordability and keeping their communities safe.
It’s an acknowledgement of two issues the Conservatives successfully ran on, keeping Liberals to a minority.
14 minutes ago
Carney speaking now
Catharine Tunney
The prime minister is now taking questions after unveiling his new cabinet and secretaries and state.
38 minutes ago
Carney, Poilievre to hold news conferences around the same time
Verity Stevenson
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to journalists on Parliament Hill earlier this month. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)Carney will speak slightly earlier than expected, holding a news conference at 1:30 p.m. ET.
A little bit like in the election, when the two leaders often held duelling media appearances, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is expected to speak around the same time, reacting to Carney’s appointments.
41 minutes ago
Gender parity in cabinet, but not among secretaries of state
Michael Woods
The family photo of Carney’s new cabinet. (Blair Gable/Reuters)Carney has kept to his promise to stick with the gender parity rule that Justin Trudeau first brought in, maintaining an equal number of women and men in cabinet.
There are 28 full cabinet ministers: 14 men and 14 women. That does not include Carney himself.
Among the 10 secretaries of state, there are six men and four women. (But five women, if you count Rechie Valdez, who is both secretary of state for small business and tourism AND the minister of women and gender equality.)
1 hour ago
Some interesting secretary of state picks
Catharine Tunney
John Zerucelli, left, and Stephen Fuhr arrive for a cabinet swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)Some of the secretaries of state have interesting backgrounds related to their new jobs. Stephen Fuhr, now secretary of state for defence procurement, is a retired air force officer.
Notable, too, that Wayne Long is now secretary of state for the Canada Revenue Agency, given his first falling out with the Trudeau government was over proposed small business tax changes.
He was removed from two parliamentary committees for breaking rank on that matter in 2017; now he’ll advise the government.
And Nathalie Provost is likely most known to Canadians as a committed gun control advocate as a survivor of the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre. She worked as an engineer before running as a Liberal and takes on secretary of state for nature.
And Olympic gold medallist Adam van Koeverden is secretary of state for sport.
1 hour ago
New cabinet seeks regional representation
Jayden Dill
Carney’s new team has members from every province and one of the territories.
There’s a cabinet minister from each province, except Saskatchewan, which is allotted a secretary instead. Northern Canada is represented with one minister from the Northwest Territories.
Here’s a full breakdown of the government’s regional representation:
Ontario: 14 (11 ministers, 3 secretaries)Quebec: 9 (7 ministers, 2 secretaries)British Columbia: 5 (2 ministers, 3 secretaries)New Brunswick: 2 (minister and secretary)Nova Scotia: 2 (both ministers)Newfoundland and Labrador: 1 (minister)Alberta: 1 (minister)Manitoba: 1 (minister)Northwest Territories: 1 (minister)Prince Edward Island: 1 (minister)Saskatchewan: 1 (secretary)2 hours ago
New cabinet is sworn in
Verity Stevenson
And that’s it for the oaths. The new cabinet is now fully sworn-in, with all 28 ministers and 10 secretaries of state having completed their investitures.
Carney will speak after lunch, at around 1:40 p.m. ET.
2 hours ago
What is a secretary of state?
Catharine Tunney
Carney has brought back the position of secretaries of state; historically, these positions have sometimes been called junior ministers.
They are not members of cabinet, but may be invited to cabinet or cabinet committee meetings when matters related to their responsibilities are being discussed or if their expertise is needed.
The role is historically paid less than a full minister and they have fewer staff. It’s a way to bring in regional and diverse voices without growing the core cabinet.
