David Lametti says old friend Mark Carney brought him back into politics

Montreal Gazette

15-07-2025

By
OTTAWA — Sitting at a café a couple of blocks from the House of Commons on a very hot June afternoon, David Lametti was telling an anecdote about a recent meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Lametti — the former member of Parliament for LaSalle—Émard—Verdun and federal justice minister — had left politics at the beginning of 2024, several months after he'd been dropped from cabinet by ex-PM Justin Trudeau. But in June he accepted Carney's offer to become the new prime minister's principal secretary. His first day on the job was Monday.
Lametti and Carney are old friends, having played together on the Oxford University hockey team in the 1990s.
'The last time I went to his house for a meeting, he had a playlist on,' said Lametti. 'It was Spotify or Apple Music. And I said, 'Carney, you picked a playlist that I really like.' And he said, 'I did it on purpose.' He smiled and gave me a thumbs up. It was a lot of '90s stuff, the stuff we were listening to in the U.K. He said, 'I picked it for you Hammer'.'
'Hammer' was Lametti's nickname on the Oxford ice-hockey team, as they call it in that part of the world, in tribute, Lametti says, to the fact that he was a tough defenceman. Carney was the team's goalie.
Lametti has always been a big music fan, often posting pics on Facebook of the vinyl albums he's listening to, and Carney is also a music guy, as many found out during the recent federal election campaign. Carney talked at length in one interview about how much he loved British punk band The Clash.
Carney is a relative newcomer to the Canadian political scene and most of us still don't know him all that well. Lametti says his old pal is a straight shooter.
'He's charming and very very funny,' said Lametti. 'You guys, journalists, got some glimpses of that during the campaign. But he's also really smart and really demanding. He expects the best from himself and he expects the best from people around him.'
Lametti and Carney became friends while playing hockey in Oxford together for three years and they remained close in the 25 years since. And it's entirely because of that friendship that Lametti is back on Parliament Hill.
Lametti, who'd been a McGill University law professor for 20 years, entered politics in 2015, winning the seat for the Liberals in LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. When he stepped down last year, he joined the law firm of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin.
'When I left politics, it's funny, they asked me at Fasken's, if I was done, and I said, 'I am done, with one exception, if my old friend Mark Carney runs, I've promised him I'll give him a hand',' said Lametti. 'I helped him informally, introducing him to people in caucus in the early stages. I gave him advice during the leadership campaign and did the same thing during the election campaign. ... Along the way we began to talk about a more serious kind of engagement. The principal secretary role is one that I think fits. So you're working with the prime minister and the chief of staff with respect to policy direction.'
Lametti, who was born in Port Colborne, Ont., but has lived in Quebec for decades, is just one of many Quebecers in prominent positions in Carney's government, a clear recognition of the crucial support Carney received from la belle province in the election. Carney's chief of staff is Marc-André Blanchard, a former ambassador to the United Nations, and Carney also tapped prominent Quebec business executive Michael Sabia to be clerk of the Privy Council.
Lametti says he's there entirely because of Carney.
'I have a lot of confidence in his abilities,' said Lametti. 'I've obviously known him as the smartest guy in the room, the smartest guy in the dressing room. And he has a set of economic chops that are unparalleled in the world. I was very happy at Fasken's. They treated me extremely well. But you can't say no to a friend and you can't say no to your country. This is an important time to step up.'
Lametti admits it wasn't easy when he lost his job as justice minister during a cabinet shuffle in July 2023, after holding the position for just over four years.
'It was one of the hardest times of my life,' said Lametti. 'I expressed surprise at the time, when I was left out of cabinet. But on the other hand, in our system it's the prime minister's decision. You serve at their pleasure and clearly that period was over in my life. I found that I couldn't represent my constituents any longer and at that point it was time to step down.'
He insists there are no hard feelings between him and Trudeau.
'It's cordial,' said Lametti. 'I saw him last week just here at a local restaurant. We get along just fine.'
He said everyone in the prime minister's office understands Quebec has an important role to play in this government.
'I think there is an understanding that Quebec is important and that Quebec's particularities need to be understood, francophone and anglophone,' he said. 'The anglophone community in Quebec is as particular as the francophone community in its own way.'
Lametti was asked how good Carney was as a goalie.
'He was quite good, he was the best guy on our team,' said Lametti. 'He had played junior varsity at Harvard. He's a smallish goalie but a good-reflexes goalie.'