Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who won an election last month promising to stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump, unveiled a new cabinet on Tuesday that he said would help define a new relationship with the United States.
Carney cut the number of ministers to 29 from the 39 under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but kept some key players in their positions, such as Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and Dominic LeBlanc, who is in charge of U.S. trade.
But he moved Melanie Joly from Foreign Affairs to Industry after four years and replaced her with Anita Anand.
“Canadians elected this new government with a strong mandate to define a new economic and security relationship with the United States (and) to build a stronger economy,” Carney’s office said in a statement. “… This focused team will act on this mandate for change with urgency and determination.”
Chrystia Freeland, whose resignation as finance minister last December helped oust an increasingly unpopular Trudeau, keeps her job as minister of transport and internal trade.
Former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Hodgson takes over as natural resources minister, replacing Jonathan Wilkinson, who was dropped from cabinet.
Carney says Canada must spend billions to start shifting the economy’s focus away from the United States and is also promising to reduce public spending.
His immediate promises are a tax cut and ending all trade barriers among the 10 provinces by July 1.
The Liberal platform, which promises additional spending of around C$130 billion ($92.85 billion) over the next four years, predicts that the 2025-26 deficit will be C$62.3 billion, far higher than the C$42.2 billion forecast in December.
(Writing by David Ljunggren Editing by Rod Nickel)