Here are the new faces in Prime Minister Carney's cabinet

Yahoo

14-05-2025

Prime Minister Mark Carney overhauled his cabinet Tuesday in the wake of last month's election.
The Liberals increased their seat count to 170, falling just short of a majority. The larger caucus gave the prime minister plenty of fresh faces and veteran MPs to choose from.
Carney seems to have opted to shake things up, adding 24 new faces that previously haven't held cabinet portfolios. Of the 24, 15 are ministers and nine are secretaries of state — a sort of junior cabinet position.
While a majority of Carney's ministers had been part of Justin Trudeau's Liberal caucus, 13 of them are first-time MPs.
Ten former ministers were also dropped from their roles. You can read more about them here.
Here is a look at the new faces joining the Liberal front bench.
In his first, albeit brief, cabinet, Carney didn't appoint any ministers who had endorsed Chrystia Freeland in the Liberal leadership race — though he did give Freeland herself a spot.
But in naming Julie Dabrusin minister of environment and climate change, Carney added a cabinet member who had backed one of his leadership rivals.
The representative for Toronto-Danforth gets her first cabinet portfolio after nearly a decade as an MP. In April's vote, Dabrusin trounced her NDP opponent in former leader Jack Layton's old riding.
Previously, Dabrusin had held a few parliamentary secretary positions, including to ministers of environment and natural resources.
The former broadcaster joins cabinet in his first foray into elected politics. Solomon, who had previously worked for both CBC and CTV, is taking on the new role of minister of artificial intelligence.
Solomon won his first election last month in the riding of Toronto Centre.
In 2015, CBC fired the then host of Power & Politics and The House, following reports he was brokering art deals with people he interviewed as a journalist — including Carney.
More recently, Solomon worked for the Eurasia Group as the publisher for GZERO Media.
The newly elected representative for the riding of Edmonton Centre will be Alberta's sole representative at the cabinet table.
Carney tapped Olszewski to be minister of emergency management and community resilience. She will also manage the department known as Prairies Economic Development Canada.
Olszewski ran for the Liberals in 2015 and 2019 in the neighbouring riding of Edmonton Strathcona, but fell short both times. She now joins the Liberal caucus representing the riding previously held by former cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault.
Mandy Gull-Masty, former grand chief of the Grand Council of the Crees, is the new minister of Indigenous services.
The newly elected representative for the Quebec riding of Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou is one of three Indigenous MPs on Carney's front bench.
Gull-Masty was first elected to public office in 2014, serving as deputy chief of her home community, the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi, where she held the finance, administration, housing and mining negotiation portfolios, according to the Grand Council of the Crees.
She was elected as the first female Grand Chief of the Cree Nation Government in Quebec in 2021.
The MP for Brampton-Chinguacousy Park enters cabinet for the first time as president of the Treasury Board.
Ali is one of the veteran MPs in Carney's cabinet who has previously not held a portfolio. He has been an MP since 2021, and has been a member of a few House committees.
Unlike some of the other MPs joining cabinet who had been part of caucus before the last election, Ali hadn't held a parliamentary secretary position — sometimes seen as a stepping stone to cabinet.
But Ali has been quite active as a backbencher, joining over a dozen parliamentary groups and associations. He now takes over a role that is largely responsible for overseeing the federal public service.
Ali was one of a number of MPs to have toured the West Bank last year and subsequently raised concerns about Israeli settler violence in the territory.
Tim Hodgson is new to elected politics, but has some familiarity with government and with the prime minister himself.
The MP for Markham-Thornhill worked with Carney during his tenure at the Bank of Canada, and will now serve as the minister of natural resources and energy.
Hodgson also has private sector experience, most notably in his former role as the CEO of Goldman Sachs Canada.
The representative for the Quebec riding of Louis-Hébert is another MP making the jump to cabinet after nearly a decade on the backbench.
Lightbound was first elected in 2015 and has been a parliamentary secretary to a number of cabinet ministers. Carney has now given Lightbound his own portfolio as the minister of government transformation, public works and procurement.
The veteran MP has not shied away from speaking out against the Liberal government in the past.
Rebecca Chartrand, who identifies as Anishinaabe, Inninew, Dakota and Métis from Pine Creek First Nation, is one of three Indigenous members of Carney's cabinet.
The newly elected MP jumps right into a cabinet role after unseating longtime NDP MP Niki Ashton in the northern Manitoba riding of Churchill-Keewatinook Aski. Chartrand was previously the president and CEO of Indigenous Strategy, a management consulting company.
During her campaign, Chartrand promised to advance economic development opportunities in the North, ranging from the railway to the Port of Churchill and the abundance of critical minerals. She takes on the role of minister of northern and Arctic affairs and minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.
The new MP for the Northwest Territories is the only territorial member of cabinet, having been sworn in as the minister of Crown-Indigenous relations.
Alty is one of the new MPs jumping right into a cabinet position. She previously served as mayor and city councillor in Yellowknife.
Alty had promised to push for federal funding related to an Indigenous conservation deal in the territory — something she could now potentially have influence over in her cabinet role.
The former Vancouver mayor will take on a cabinet position after notching his first federal electoral win.
The new MP for Vancouver Fraserview-South Burnaby will be Carney's housing and infrastructure minister. He will also be responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada.
Robertson was Vancouver's mayor from 2008 to 2018. He also served as a New Democrat B.C. legislative member from 2005 to 2008.
Heath MacDonald will be the cabinet representative from P.E.I., taking on the role of agriculture minister.
The agriculture file had previously been held by Lawrence MacAulay, another Islander and longtime minister who decided not to run this past election.
MacDonald is not a new face in the Liberal caucus — he was first elected in 2021. Though he hasn't previously been a parliamentary secretary, he has previously been the chair of the House public safety committee.
McKnight is another rookie MP who Carney has immediately put in his cabinet. She will be taking on the role of veteran affairs minister and associate minister of national defence.
A small business owner, McKnight won last month in the B.C. riding of Delta, which included parts of former minister and MP Carla Qualtrough's riding.
Before entering electoral politics, McKnight served as the executive director of the Delta Chamber of Commerce.
Like Dabrusin, Diab had endorsed Freeland in the Liberal leadership race. Despite that, Carney named the Nova Scotia MP the new minister or immigration, refugees and citizenship.
Diab was first elected in Halifax West in 2021. Though she hasn't held a parliamentary secretary position, Diab has been the chair of the House justice committee.
The child of Lebanese immigrants, Diab brings provincial cabinet experience to her new job. She had previously been an N.S. MLA and held a number of provincial cabinet positions — including immigration — during her tenure.
The new minister of health is also a rookie MP. Marjorie Michel won her seat last month in the Montreal riding of Papineau — the same riding that former prime minister Justin Trudeau represented.
Michel is a longtime Liberal organizer. She previously served as Trudeau's deputy chief of staff and worked as the party's director of campaign operations in Quebec during the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
Michel had initially been tapped to be the Liberal deputy campaign director back in the fall when Trudeau was still party leader.
An MP since 2019, Sidhu gets his first cabinet role as minister of international trade — likely to be a key portfolio given the ongoing U.S. trade war.
The MP for Brampton East has been a parliamentary secretary for a number of ministers — including his two predecessors, Dominic LeBlanc and Mary Ng.
Sidhu was an early backer of Carney's leadership bid.
A former Saskatchewan Liberal and NDP MLA, Belanger will be the secretary of state for rural development.
Belanger, who is Métis, is one of three Indigenous members of Carney's cabinet. After winning his riding, the newly elected MP said he wanted to convene a series of summits bringing together leaders, artists, land stewards and language keepers to shape a shared vision for the North's future.
Belanger won the Liberals' first seat in Saskatchewan since 2019, and will be the province's sole representative in caucus and at the cabinet table.
Fuhr was an MP from 2015 to 2019, before losing his B.C. seat to Conservative Tracy Gray. Fuhr was able to take the seat back from Gray in last month's election.
For his second term as an MP, the representative for Kelowna will have a cabinet role — albeit a junior position — serving as the secretary of state for defence procurement.
During his first stint as an MP, Fuhr was chair of the House defence committee. He is the first and only Liberal MP to be elected in B.C.'s interior in the last 50 years.
Gainey had been an adviser with the Liberal government before making the jump into electoral politics 2023. She won a byelection that year in the Montreal riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Westmount to replace outgoing MP and former cabinet minister Marc Garneau.
Gainey advised two ministers of national defence and veterans affairs, and is a former president of the Liberal Party.
The Montreal MP will be Carney's secretary of state for children and youth.
First elected in 2015, Long now gets his first cabinet role. He will be the secretary of state responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency and financial institutions.
Long was one of the more outspoken MPs calling on Trudeau to resign. The New Brunswick MP had initially signalled he wouldn't run again but decided to stay on after Carney won the leadership.
In the past, Long also broke ranks with his party over small business tax changes.
Provost, a survivor of the 1989 Montreal massacre and longtime gun control advocate, is taking on the role of secretary of state for nature.
Provost won her first election last month in the Quebec riding of Châteauguay-Les Jardins-de-Napierville.
Carney would often tout Provost's candidacy during the campaign when emphasizing his party's commitment to firearm regulations. In an embarrassing moment early in the campaign, the Liberal leader mispronounced Provost's name.
Sarai has been an MP since 2015, but this will be his first time at the cabinet table. Carney named the Surrey Centre MP as the secretary of state for international development.
Since his first election, Sarai has been a parliamentary secretary for veterans affairs. He has also been the chair of the House justice committee.
Sarai has found himself in hot water in the past. The MP invited Jaspal Atwal — who was convicted of attempting to assassinate an Indian cabinet minister in 1986 — to a pair of high-level receptions during Trudeau's 2018 trip to India. Sarai apologized and resigned as chair of his party's Pacific caucus.
The former Olympian turned politician is now the secretary of state for sport.
Van Koeverden was first elected in 2019, unseating longtime Conservative MP and former cabinet minister Lisa Raitt.
He has held a number of parliamentary secretary roles, including for former ministers of sport. But this is his first time at the cabinet table.
Van Koeverden won a gold medal in kayaking at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Although she is a former Alberta NDP MLA, Mclean won a seat for the federal Liberals in B.C.
A lawyer by trade, McLean won the riding of Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke, which had been held by the NDP since 2011.
McLean is now the secretary of state for seniors.
Zerucelli is a rookie MP taking on the role of secretary of state for labour.
He was elected in the Toronto riding of Etobicoke North, a seat formerly held by longtime Liberal MP and former cabinet minister Kirsty Duncan.
Although he is a new MP, Toronto Life magazine listed Zerucelli as having worked for the Trudeau PMO in 2016.