Mark Carney split up the role of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Industry as part of his cabinet shuffle today. The newly elected Prime Minister has named Mélanie Joly as Minister of Industry, while Toronto Centre MP Evan Solomon takes on the Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation.
Solomon was a columnist and political journalist prior to his election, hosting CTV programs like Power Play and Question Period. Solomon will be responsible for seeing through Carney’s campaign promise of $2.5 billion for broadband and data centres, on top of existing Trudeau-era initiatives such as the $2-billion Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy.
“Canadians voted for big change, not small change.”
Mark Carney
Solomon was notably fired by CBC News in 2015 following a Toronto Star report that alleged he had facilitated secret art deals using his connections as a journalist. This included brokering the sale of paintings from art collector Bruce Bailey to then BlackBerry co-CEO Jim Balsillie and Mark Carney—now the prime minister and Solomon’s boss.
Joly had previously played a key role in Canada-United States (US) relations as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Joly also has experience as the Minister of Economic Development, and was responsible for administering all of Canada’s Regional Economic Development Agencies (RDA) from 2019 to 2021.
“Our primary focus is on the Canadian economy, and we’re at the start of an industrial transformation; the transformation of this economy,” Carney said in a press conference following the cabinet appointments. “Madame Joly, as Minister of Industry, is going to help lead that, in concert with the other members of the cabinet and myself.”
Joly has effectively traded places with former Innovation Minister Anita Anand, who Carney shifted to the foreign affairs portfolio. Anand took over the innovation ministry from longtime minister François-Philippe Champagne when he moved to Minister of Finance in March. Anand previously served under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Minister of Transport and Internal Trade as well as President of the Treasury Board.
Champagne will retain his position under the new Carney government, with a minor rebrand to “Minister of Finance and Internal Revenue.” Former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, the champion of the controversial capital gains tax rates changes in the 2024 Budget, will remain in cabinet as Minister of Transport and Internal Trade. Carney’s government killed the capital gains tax rate change prior to the election.
The new cabinet consists of 28 ministers who are supported by 10 secretaries of state, who “provide dedicated leadership on specific issues or priorities within the broader portfolio of a Cabinet minister,” according to the Prime Minister’s Office. While some Trudeau government veterans like Joly, Champagne, and Freeland have returned, at least 10 have been dropped from cabinet. These include former National Defence Minister Bill Blair, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, and Housing Minister Nate Erskine-Smith.
“Canadians voted for big change, not small change,” Carney said. “We have a big intake of new deputies, lots of different experiences that they’re bringing … new voices, new perspectives.” He said a cabinet of “half and half” Trudeau government veterans and newbies “for me, is perfect.”
Under Carney’s new cabinet, each of the seven RDAs once again have a new minister responsible for its management. On top of the industry portfolio, Joly is the Minister Responsible for the RDA of Québec, while Solomon takes on FedDev Ontario.
New Minister of Justice Sean Fraser is responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), while Eleanor Olszewski and Gregor Robertson are responsible for PrairiesCan and PacifiCan, respectively. The agencies were under the Innovation Ministry’s wing for a brief period following Carney’s first cabinet shuffle in March.
“Ultimately, the measure of success for Prime Minister Carney and his new cabinet will come from the policies they enact and the results they deliver for Canadians,” Council of Canadian Innovators president Benjamin Bergen said in a statement.
Since Carney’s election win, industry groups have been urging his government to have a renewed focus on long-standing issues that they say have plagued Canadian tech, such as tackling Canada’s flagging productivity, incentivizing investment through tax credit reform, and boosting support for domestic companies amid a trade war with the United States (US).
Joly, Solomon, and the rest of Carney’s new cabinet will be overseeing the implementation of Liberal campaign promises that include reducing the government’s reliance on American companies as well as securing advantages in “strategic industries” like AgTech, biomanufacturing, and quantum computing. The party also pledged to introduce flow-through shares, which allow companies in capital-intensive sectors like quantum and manufacturing to offer fully tax-deductible common shares to fund R&D expenses more quickly.
Carney also promised to commit more funding to the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative, and to raise the claimable amount for Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credits.
“We ran a very clear campaign on our priorities: standing up to the US, getting the best possible relationship, security, and economic relationship, but then, at the core, building the strongest economy in the G7,” Carney said. “You’ll hear [how that translates into specific priorities] in the Speech from the Throne [on May 27], but you will be able to guess what they are, having followed the campaign and what Canadians voted for.”
Feature image courtesy Prime Minister of Canada via X.