Former Transport Minister Anita Anand is now Canada’s minister of innovation within new Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet, while current innovation minister François-Philippe Champagne will take over as Minister of Finance.
Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland was named Minister of Transport and Internal Trade.
Carney announced the makeup of his cabinet after being sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister this morning. The former governor of the Bank of Canada won the Liberal leadership race this past Sunday, which was triggered by Trudeau announcing he would step down in January.
Before being elected in her riding of Oakville, Ont., Anand taught law at the University of Toronto with a focus on corporate governance. She previously served as Minister of Transport and Internal Trade under Trudeau, in addition to her role as President of the Treasury Board. She was also the Minister of National Defence from 2021 to 2023, and Minister of Public Services and Procurement from 2019 to 2021.
Champagne has served as Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry since 2021, replacing Navdeep Bains. The innovation minister presides over Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), which manages several organizations that invest in technology and innovation, including the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan), and Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan).
ISED also administers the Strategic Innovation Fund, and previously, the embattled cleantech agency Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) before it was moved under Natural Resources Canada.
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Champagne’s record as innovation minister was marked by large investments and unfulfilled promises to the tech sector, which included multiple iterations of an innovation agency that never materialized and an artificial intelligence (AI) policy that was never signed into law. During his tenure, the federal government made several significant investments into innovation projects, including $2.4 billion for sovereign AI compute infrastructure and nearly $2 billion toward Global Innovation superClusters.
Champagne was considered a likely challenger to Trudeau, but announced in January that he would not run for Liberal leadership and endorsed Carney instead.
In one of her first acts as innovation minister, Anand told reporters today that she instructed ISED to send a letter to government suppliers encouraging them to buy Canadian, “to ensure that they are utilizing Canadian steel and aluminum.”
Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland was named Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, following an unsuccessful bid for Liberal leadership. In December, Freeland resigned from her post the morning she was slated to announce the Fall Economic Statement. Intergovernmental affairs minister Dominic Leblanc was immediately appointed as interim Finance Minister.
Now, Leblanc is resuming his previous role, with the added responsibilities of international trade and presidency of the Privy Council.
Carney’s cabinet is smaller than that of his predecessor, featuring 24 members, including the Prime Minister, compared to Trudeau’s 37. Notably, Liberal leadership candidates Karina Gould, former House leader, and Frank Baylis, former Member of Parliament (MP), were not named to cabinet positions.
“Canada’s new government will be action-oriented, driven by a smaller but highly experienced team made to meet the moment,” Carney said at his swearing-in speech today.
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The minister responsible for the regional development agency (RDA) FedDev Ontario, MP Ruby Sahota, was not given a cabinet position, after having been appointed in December. Sahota was also the minister of democratic institutions.
MP Terry Duguid, who was the Minister responsible for PrairiesCan, was named Minister of Environment and Climate Change. BetaKit has reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office for more information on who is now responsible for RDAs within cabinet.
Carney is assuming the country’s leadership amid a trade war with the US and is now chairing the Council on Canada-US Relations. During a question-and-answer period today, Carney said he was “looking forward” to speaking with US President Donald Trump but has not set plans to travel to the US.
Carney said the smaller cabinet will focus on two priorities: protecting Canadian workers in the face of US trade threats, and growing the country “by putting more money in Canadians’ pockets, ensuring that government spends less so Canada can invest more, by building millions of homes, by making Canada a superpower in both conventional and clean energy, by creating new trade corridors with reliable partners, and by forging one Canadian economy out of 13.”
“Canadians know that negativity isn’t strength,” Carney said. “They know that negativity won’t pay the rent or the mortgage, that negativity won’t bring down the price of groceries. Negativity won’t win a trade war.”
In his acceptance speech Monday, Carney pledged to kill the controversial capital gains tax changes brought forward under the Trudeau government, as well as the consumer carbon tax.
Carney today did not indicate when he is planning to call an election, but sources told The Globe and Mail he is expected to call one this spring.
Feature image courtesy Mark Carney via X.