Who are the federal political rookies in Mark Carney's new Liberal cabinet?

CTV News

13-05-2025

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney has unveiled his new Liberal cabinet. Rahim Ladhani breaks down who's in and who's out.
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney has unveiled his new Liberal cabinet. Rahim Ladhani breaks down who's in and who's out.
Who's in and who's out of PM Mark Carney's new Liberal cabinet
Prime Minister Mark Carney's new front bench includes 13 rookies when it comes to federal politics, but they're also seasoned leaders from the business world, a former mayor, and stalwarts from the provincial politics scene.
Here are some of the fresh faces that Carney has tapped to take on cabinet portfolios.
Rebecca Alty
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations
Rebecca Alty
Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty speaks as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks on during a housing announcement in Yellowknife, N.W.T., on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski
The former Yellowknife mayor won the federal riding of Northwest Territories, beating out Conservative Kimberly Fairman by more than 3,300 votes, according to the latest count.
Alty was elected mayor in 2018 and before that served two terms as city councillor between 2012 and 2018.
'She is ready to bring her experience and skills to Ottawa to advocate for the Northwest Territories and deliver real results back home,' according to her bio on the Liberal party website.
'I love the Northwest Territories, and so really want to be able to continue to help at the federal level,' she said in an interview with Cabin Radio.
Buckley Belanger
Secretary of State, Rural Development
Buckley Belanger
Buckley Belanger is shown in this image taken from the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan website.
Belanger is the first Liberal to win in Saskatchewan since Ralph Goodale in 2019. He won Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River by just over 3,500 seats over his Conservative opponent, according to the latest count.
'We're going to tell all the progressive voters across this province we got 'er done,' he said after his win. 'This is for you, and we're going to continue moving forward and working hard from Saskatchewan's perspective.'
Before entering federal politics, Belanger was the longest-serving MLA of Saskatchewan, representing the provincial riding of Athabasca from 1995 until 2021. During this time, he held several cabinet positions, including as Minister of Environment and Resource Management and Associate Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs.
From 1988 to 1994, he served three terms as mayor of Île-à-la-Crosse. He also worked as a journalist for the Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation in La Ronge.
Rebecca Chartrand
Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs
Rebecca Chartrand
Rebecca Chartrand performs at the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Liberal Biennial Convention Winnipeg Thursday, May 26, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
Chartrand unseated the NDP's Niki Ashton who held Manitoba's northernmost riding of Churchill—Keewatinook Aski since 2008. The riding has the largest percentage of First Nations people living in Canada. Chartrand is an 'Anishinaabe, Inninew, Dakota, and Métis leader,' her biography on the Liberal party website says, and she is an educator and 'long-time advocate for Indigenous and northern communities.'
She comes with more than 25 years of experience in leadership roles in K–12 and post-secondary education, and in the arts sector.
She was president and CEO of Indigenous Strategy , an organization dedicated to advancing Indigenous inclusion.
In an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press, she said she was eyeing opportunities in critical mineral mining and rail line development.
'This riding wants to be a centrepiece of the Canadian economy, as we continue to re-envision what that looks like. There's so much opportunity here,' Chartrand told the Winnipeg Free press.
'Our people really want to see economic development and growth throughout this riding and feel that the time is right.'
Mandy Gull-Masty
Minister of Indigenous Services
Mandy Gull-Masty
Mandy Gull-Masty arrives for a cabinet swearing in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Gull-Masty was elected as member of Parliament for the Quebec riding of Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, beating her Bloc opponent Sylvie Berube by just over 2,100 votes as of the latest count.
She began her political journey in 2014, when she was elected Deputy Chief of the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi, where she oversaw key portfolios including finance, administration, housing, and mining negotiations.
'I am very familiar with the realities of the Cree Nation. I know the realities of Nunavik because I worked closely with them during my tenure as grand chief,' Gull-Masty said after her win on April 28.
'But I'm also looking forward to working more closely with the non-Indigenous communities in the riding.'
In 2021, she made history as the first woman elected Grand Chief of the Cree Nation Government in Quebec. Her riding is one of the largest in Canada, covering more than 850,000 square kilometres.
Tim Hodgson
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
Tim Hodgson
(Liberal Party of Canada)
Hodgson has an extensive business portfolio, most recently serving as chairperson of both Hydro One and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization, and was vice-chair of the investment committee at the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. He also was CEO of Goldman Sachs Canada from 2005 to 2010, where he worked with Mark Carney. He went on to join Carney at the Bank of Canada where he became special adviser to the governor in 2010.
Hodgson has a master of business administration from Western University's The Ivey School of Business and worked as an accountant in the 1980s. He won the GTA riding of Markham—Thornhill by more than 6,500 votes over his Conservative opponent, Lionel Loganathan.
'The next four years of dealing with the challenges from Donald Trump and down south are going to be very hard,' he said in his victory speech on April 28, 'but we are going to unite as a team nationwide.'
The Liberal party website says Hodgson also served in the Canadian Armed Forces from 1979 to 1985.
Jill McKnight
Minister of Veterans Affairs
Jill McKnight
(Liberal Party of Canada)
McKnight won the riding of Delta in B.C.'s Lower Mainland by a little more than 5,400 votes over Conservative Jessy Sahota, according to the latest count.
She was raised in Delta and for 28 years, she and her family-owned clothing store South Coast Casuals, according to the Liberal party website. She also served as executive director at the Delta Chamber of Commerce and was president of the Ladner Business Association for five years.
In an interview with the North Delta Reporter, she said she plans to vote to permanently eliminate the consumer carbon tax. She also promised to convene sessions with the business community that will 'focus on tariff impacts, workforce challenges, transportation opportunities, and strategies to boost local economic resilience.'
Stephanie McLean
Secretary of State, Seniors
Service Alberta Minister Stephanie McLean
Service Alberta Minister Stephanie McLean is sworn in as a new cabinet minister in Edmonton in a February 2, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
McLean won the B.C. riding of Esquimalt–Saanich–Sooke comfortably with a more than 15,000 vote lead over Conservative Grant Cool, according to the latest count.
Born in Calgary, McLean served in the Alberta legislature as a New Democrat from 2016 to 2018 and served as Minister of Service Alberta and Minister of Status of Women. In these roles, she championed gender equality, consumer protection, and inclusive public policy. She also spearheaded the introduction of non-binary identity documents and stronger protections against predatory lending.
A lawyer by profession, she practised labour and employment law before entering the provincial legislature.
Marjorie Michel
Minister of Health
Marjorie Michel
Marjorie Michel arrive for a cabinet swearing-in at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Michel succeeded former prime minister Justin Trudeau in the Quebec riding of Papineau, easily winning the seat over her Conservative opponent by nearly 17,000 votes as of the latest count.
She's a Liberal insider and a seasoned strategist who served as deputy chief of staff to Trudeau. She also led the party's Quebec operations in the 2019 and 2021 federal election campaigns.
Michel is of Haitian descent and has a background in social and organizational psychology with a master's degree from Universite Catholique Louvain in Belgium.
She is the daughter of former prime minister of Haiti, Smarck Michel.
Eleanor Olszewski
Minister of Emergency Management
Eleanor Olszewski
Liberal MP-elect Eleanor Olszewski on election night
Olszewski won Edmonton Centre — the sole Liberal seat in the city — by 3,512 votes over Conservative opponent Sayid Ahmed, according to the latest vote count.
She called her victory on April 28 'deeply personal,' after having built her career and raising her family in Edmonton Centre. Before entering politics, Olszewski was a lawyer in Edmonton, where she became her firm's first female partner.
According to her biography on the Liberal party website, she's also a Canadian Armed Forces veteran, business owner and volunteer on health care and arts boards.
Olszewski has stated she wanted to be a 'strong voice from Alberta' for oil and gas. In an interview with CTV Edmonton's Michael Higgins, host of Alberta Primetime, Olszewski said she understood the need to protect the oil and gas industry. 'This is a fundamental part of Alberta's economy and it's going to be so for many years to come,' she said. 'It's important, not just for Albertans, but for other Canadian provinces who are going to be depending on us, and for countries that we're going to ship our oil and gas to as well.'
Nathalie Provost
Secretary of State, Nature
Nathalie Provost Montreal Massacre survivor
Nathalie Provost, a victim of the 1989 shooting at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, speaks about gun control during a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Thursday November 24, 2011. (Adrian Wyld /The Canadian Press)
Provost is a survivor of the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre, in which a gunman murdered 14 women. She went on to become a prominent gun-control advocate and worked in Quebec's civil service, rising to the senior ranks where she helped to 'improve public sector performance and modernize services to citizens,' according to her biography on the Liberal party website.
'I chose the Liberal Party of Canada because it is the only party that can and will deliver a complete assault-style firearms compensation program to protect Canadians from gun violence,' she said when she announced her candidacy for the Quebec seat.
As of the latest count, the star Liberal candidate won the Quebec riding of Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville by more than 10,000 votes over Conservative Patrick O'Hara.
Gregor Robertson
Minister of Housing and Infrastructure
gregor
Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson speaks in Vancouver, B.C., on September 10, 2015. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
The former mayor won the federal riding of Vancouver Fraserview-South Burnaby with 52 per cent of the vote as of the latest count, and with a more than 8,600-vote advantage over Conservative Avi Nayyar.
Robertson served as Vancouver's mayor for 10 years between 2008 and 2018, and before that was a member of B.C.'s New Democratic government for three years.
Before entering politics, he worked as a rancher and farmer in his twenties before co-founding organic food company Happy Planet. With his win, Robertson has completed the trifecta of serving at all three levels of government.
On top of the housing portfolio, Robertson also becomes Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Canada.
Evan Solomon
Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation
Evan Solomon
The first-time MP won the riding of Toronto Centre in a landslide, with more than 25,500 votes over second place Conservative candidate Luis Ibarra, according to the latest count.
On top of his new portfolio, Solomon is also Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.
Solomon most recently worked for the Eurasia Group as the publisher for GZERO Media . He was also a special correspondent with CTV News but resigned from that role prior to Prime Minister Mark Carney being elected as Liberal party leader on March 9.
He worked at Bell Media from 2016 to 2022, first as the host of Ottawa Now on 580 CFRA and later as the host of CTV News political programs Question Period and Power Play . During that time, he also hosted The Evan Solomon Show, a nationally syndicated radio program on the iHeart Radio network.
'Beyond journalism, Evan is a best-selling author and an active community leader,' according to his Liberal party biography. 'He was recently the recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal for service to the country. He and his wife are proud parents of two university students.'
John Zerucelli
Secretary of State, Labour
John Zerucelli
John Zerucelli arrives for a cabinet swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Zerucelli was elected in the Ontario riding of Etobicoke North, beating his Conservative opponent Natalie Weed by just over 4,900 votes, according to the latest count.
Zerucelli is a seasoned business executive, lawyer, and public servant with over 25 years of experience in the public and private sectors, according to the Liberal party website.
A 2016 profile of Zerucelli in the Hill Times credited him for being the organizing hand behind some of the federal Liberal party's biggest events and campaign wins.
Before entering federal politics, he was Vice-President of Public Affairs at Universal Music Canada then Head of Government and Corporate Affairs at Labatt Breweries of Canada. He also served as Director of Operations and Senior Advisor for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
With files from CTV News national correspondent Rachel Aiello and Spencer Van Dyk