New PM Carney’s cabinet includes some familiar faces

Several names familiar to northerners are returning as cabinet members under newly sworn-in Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Carney became Canada’s 24th prime minister Friday at a ceremony at Ottawa’s Rideau Hall, the governor general’s official residence. After being elected the Liberal party leader last weekend, he replaces Justin Trudeau who resigned as prime minister.

Without a firm mandate from voters and with no seat in the House of Commons, Carney is expected to call an election soon. He was asked about his plans during a news conference Friday, but didn’t elaborate.

Under Canada’s Elections Act, the next election must be held no later than Oct. 20.

Among the cabinet ministers sworn in Friday:

• Patty Hajdu will stay on as minister of Indigenous services;
• Gary Anandasangaree remains as minister of Crown-Indigenous relations and northern affairs, and gained two more portfolios — attorney general and minister of justice;
• Bill Blair returns as minister of national defence;
• Joanne Thompson is minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard;
• Terry Duguid is the minister of environment and climate change.

Carney’s cabinet is noticeably trimmer with 24 members, including himself, compared to Trudeau’s cabinet of 37 members.

Carney is an economist, Wall Street banker and former governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England. His lack of political experience wasn’t enough to stop him from winning 85.9 per cent of the votes cast at the Liberal Leadership convention last Sunday.

His next closest rival, Chrystia Freeland — who quit Trudeau’s cabinet as finance minister last year but returns as transport minister and minister of internal trade under Carney — garnered eight per cent of the vote.

“It is a solemn duty to serve as prime minister at this time of great consequence for our country,” Carney said after the swearing-in ceremony.

Asked about recent statements by U.S. President Donald Trump that Canada should become the 51st American state, Carney said “we will never, ever, in any way shape or form be part of the United States.”

He said his two priorities are protecting Canadians from unfair trade and putting more money in Canadian’s pockets by cutting taxes, reducing spending and building millions of homes.

In a statement Friday, Premier P.J. Akeeagok said, “I look forward to working with Prime Minister Mark Carney and his new cabinet, which includes ministers who have worked in partnership with Nunavut.

“We are at a critical juncture in Nunavut and Canada’s history.”

He also thanked Trudeau “for being a friend to Inuit and Nunavut, and for leading with an eye to reconciliation.”