Carney picks new ministers for Treasury Board, procurement as transition begins for public service

Shafqat Ali has been named Treasury Board president. Photo by OurcommonsArticle content

Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled his new cabinet, which included new faces in key public service roles, in a major shake-up Tuesday morning.

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Shafqat Ali, the MP for Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, will take over as president of the Treasury Board. Ginette Petitpas Taylor, who had served in that role under former prime minister Justin Trudeau since late 2024, was shuffled out of Carney’s cabinet.

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Prior to entering federal politics, Ali was an entrepreneur and realtor. He had no previous roles in cabinet or as a secretary prior to his promotion. During the last Parliament, Ali sat on the standing committees on environment and sustainable development and citizenship and immigration.

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Unfortunately, the start of Ali’s political career did have its hiccups. In 2022, Ali made international headlines after he joined a hybrid session of Parliament from a bathroom stall in West Block. He apologized after he was called out by a Conservative MP

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Joël Lightbound, the MP for Louis-Hébert, will become the minister of government transformation, public works, and procurement. Ali Ehsassi was in Carney’s caretaker cabinet, but has been shuffled out.

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The new procurement minister will also be responsible for the National Capital Commission, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed to the Ottawa Citizen.

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Lightbound is a long-serving Liberal MP, who worked as an employment lawyer before he was elected in 2015.

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Lightbound might be best known for breaking Liberal ranks in 2022 during the height of the convoy protest that caused havoc in downtown Ottawa. On February 8, 2022, Lightbound held a press conference to argue his party and leadership had politicized the pandemic. He also said Trudeau and his ministers should scale back pandemic measures and rhetoric against its critics.

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Shortly after publicly criticizing his leader and party, Lightbound stepped down as Quebec caucus chair.

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Liberal MP for Louis-Hebert Joel Lightbound will be procurement minister. Photo by Adrian Wyld/ Canadian Press Photo by Adrian Wyld /The Canadian PressArticle content

He has served as a parliamentary secretary to the minister of health, finance and public safety and emergency preparedness.

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Both Lighthouse and Ali are two new faces at the cabinet table, which experts say can bring a fresh hand to key files.

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The new cabinet was made up of 28 ministers and 10 secretaries of state who will serve as junior ministers. Within that group of 38 MPs, 24 had not served in cabinet before and 13 were only just elected on April 28.