Mark Canada assumes charge as Canada’s prime minister
Former central bank governor Mark Carney assumed charge as Canada’s 24th Prime Minister on Friday, at a time, as he put it, “of great consequence” for the country as it faced a “crisis”.
Carney, 59, was sworn in by governor-general Mary Simon in Ottawa, along with his inaugural Cabinet comprising of 23 ministers.
There were some surprises in that list. Former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who resigned in December and precipitated Justin Trudeau’s departure, joined it as Minister of Transport and Internal Trade. That portfolio was being handled by Indo-Canadian Anita Anand, who is now in charge of Innovation, Science and Industry.
Dominic LeBlanc was retained but not as Finance Minister as François-Philippe Champagne took control of that critical department. He retained Melanie Joly as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Other than Anand, the only other Indo-Canadian in the leaner Cabinet is Kamal Khera. Harjit Sajjan, who had been a Minister since Trudeau’s first government was formed in 2015, was missing from the list.
“The Cabinet is much smaller because it’s focused on the issues that are most important to Canadians, meeting the moment, and the moment is a moment of crisis,” Carney said. It had 15 fewer ministers than the one it replaces, and is not gender balanced, another of Trudeau’s symbolic gestures. As Carney attempts to take his government, and party, to the centre, there were other signs of differentiation, including dropping two of Trudeau’s closest cronies Marc Miller and Jean-Eves Duclos.
Speaking to the media outside Rideau Hall after the swearing in ceremony, Carney said he will be traveling to France and the United Kingdom soon.
Visiting Washington is not immediately planned, but Carney said he had “respect” for US President Donald Trump who has imposed tariffs on the country and threatened it with annexation. “I look forward to speaking to him at the appropriate moment,” Canada’s new PM said.
“We’ll both be looking out for our countries, but he knows and I know from long experience that we can find mutual solutions that win for both,” he noted.
However, he described as “crazy” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s reiteration, while attending the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meet in Charlevoix in Quebec, that Trump’s argument for Canada becoming America’s 51st state “stands for itself”.
“Our country is Canada strong,” he asserted.
In a way, Carney did emulate Trump on Day One, as he signed an order-in-council, akin to an American executive order, scrapping the consumer carbon tax, an extremely unpopular measure that was among Trudeau’s signature moves.
That was while he chaired his first Cabinet meeting. “We’ve already taken a big decision as this Cabinet because this is a Cabinet that’s focused on action,” he said.
Carney is expected to call for snap federal elections soon, prior to March 24, when Parliament will resume sitting after it was prorogued on January 6 for the ruling Liberal Party’s leadership race. Carney won that contest in a landslide in Sunday, garnering nearly 86% of the ballots cast by registered party members.
He hinted to the announcement in the offing about the polls, as he said, “There will be other news in the coming days with respect to ensuring that we have as strong a mandate that is needed for the time.” Federal elections are scheduled for October but they could be held at the end of April or early May.
Carney was born in Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories and grew up in Edmonton, capital of the province of Alberta. He served as Governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013 and Governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020. Till he relinquished the position in January after announcing his candidature for Liberal leadership, he was chair of Brookfield Asset Management.