Mark Carney has been sworn in as the new prime minister of Canada, ending Justin Trudeau’s nearly 10-year tenure in the role.
The 59-year-old ex-central banker took the oath of office on Friday, naming a streamlined cabinet and pledging to uphold Canada’s interests in the face of tariff threats from United States President Donald Trump.
Governor General Mary Simon — the personal representative of King Charles, who is Canada’s head of state — presided over the ceremony at Rideau Hall in the capital, Ottawa.
“We’re building a government that meets the moment. Canadians expect action — and that’s what this team will deliver,” Carney said in a social media post.
“A smaller, experienced cabinet that moves faster, secures our economy, and protects Canada’s future.”
A new cabinet
While Trudeau’s cabinet comprised more than 30 members, Carney cut the number of seats to 24, with jobs like deputy prime minister going by the wayside.
The incoming cabinet, which was sworn in on Friday as well, included some Trudeau holdovers — as well as some newcomers. But some returning cabinet members found themselves reshuffled into new roles.
Trudeau’s Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc will now lead the international trade portfolio under Carney. LeBlanc’s post as finance minister, meanwhile, has been filled by former Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne.
Foreign Minister Melanie Joly is among those who will remain in their Trudeau-era positions.
Chrystia Freeland, whose high-profile resignation in December sent shockwaves through the Trudeau government, has also returned as transport minister.
“Canada’s new government is changing how we work, so we can deliver better results faster to all Canadians. We have new ministers with new ideas, ready to respond to new threats and to seize new opportunities,” Carney said on Friday.
“ Our leaner cabinet will focus on two priorities in particular: first, protecting Canadian workers and their families in the face of unjustified foreign trade actions. And second, growing this great country by putting more money in Canadians’ pockets.”
“Canada’s new government will be action-oriented, driven by a smaller but highly experienced team made to meet the moment we are in.”
The leader of the Conservative opposition, Pierre Poilievre, quickly took to social media to criticise the newly unveiled cabinet.
“87% of Carney’s ministers were Trudeau’s ministers,” he wrote. “And 100% of Carney’s ministers were in Trudeau’s caucus — helping hike carbon taxes and double the debt, housing costs and food bank lineups. A Liberal is a Liberal is a Liberal.”
Facing a federal election
Until recently, Canada’s Liberal Party appeared to be on track for a massive loss in this year’s federal election, with the Conservative opposition was poised to benefit from growing dissatisfaction over the rising cost of living and a housing shortage.
Trudeau himself faced pressure to step down as Liberal Party leader and prime minister.
But the shake-up in the Liberal leadership — coupled with the threats from Trump — have breathed new life into the party.
Starting in November, Trump began to threaten Canada with 25-percent tariffs on all exports to the US, a potentially devastating blow to the country’s economy.
At the same time, he started to pressure Canada to become the US’s “cherished 51st state”, as part of his expansionist agenda. In the past, Trump has refused to rule out economic coercion in his campaign to annex Canada.
In early January, Trudeau agreed to step down as leader of the Liberal Party. But since then, he has led his government in firm opposition to Trump’s trade war and threats to Canada’s sovereignty.
Largely as a result, the Liberals have surged ahead of the Conservative Party in voter polls for the first time in years, erasing a 26-point deficit in just six weeks.
Carney — a former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England — overwhelmingly won a party race on Sunday to become the Liberal leader.
Canada’s federal elections must be held no later than October 20, though analysts speculate Carney may call them sooner, in order to take advantage of the Liberals’ upward momentum.
A showdown with Trump
Carney must also confront the immediate issues raised by Trump’s trade wars.
Already, Trump has increased tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports to 25 percent, a tax that is likely to hit Canada hard. Already, the country announced retaliatory tariffs of its own.
And Trump has twice delayed a blanket 25-percent tariff on all Canadian and Mexican products, with that tax now slated to come into effect on April 2.
Canada has said it will not lift its retaliatory tariffs until all US tariff threats are withdrawn.
It has also accused Trump of violating the US-Mexico Canada free-trade agreement (USMCA) that the US president signed during his first term in office.
Carney has previously said he will meet with Trump if he shows “respect for Canadian sovereignty” and is willing to take “a common approach, a much more comprehensive approach for trade”.
On the steps of Rideau Hall on Friday, Carney affirmed he has no present plans to visit Trump in Washington, DC, but he emphasised he planned to diversify Canada’s trading partners.
“The president is a successful business person and dealmaker. We’re his largest client,” Carney said. “Clients expect respect and working together in a proper commercial way.”
“What you will see from this government is focusing on building here at home, building with different partners abroad. And that will reinforce the point,” he continued.
He also offered a strong defence of Canadian sovereignty.
“ I’ve been clear — the ministers behind me, I think, to an individual, when asked, have been clear — that we will never, ever, in any way, shape or form be part of the United States. America is not Canada,” he said.
When asked about recent statements from the Trump administration about Canada becoming the 51st state, the new prime minister did not mince his words
“C’est simple: C’est fou. Point finale,” Carney said in French, one of Canada’s two national languages, before offering a loose English translation. “It’s crazy. His point is crazy. That’s it.”
