Call it a Bonnie and Clyde pairing.
In his first major moves as Prime Minister, Mark Carney has appointed two key ministers who will shape Canada’s energy and environmental policy — decisions that could carry profound consequences for Western Canada, particularly Alberta and Saskatchewan.
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new cabinet includes many new faces and several notable names who have been left out, including several Trudeau-era cabinet ministers.
Here’s a look at the winners and losers in Carney’s first cabinet since the April federal election.
No great shakeup. Most of the old crew is back.
International students filed a record 20,245 asylum claims last year, with 2025 on track to surpass that number, according to federal immigration data obtained by Global News.
The claims are rising, even as Ottawa cuts the number of study permits it issues, with Prime Minister Mark Carney pledging like his predecessor Justin Trudeau to return Canadian immigration to “sustainable levels.”
The government shouldn’t be paying lawyers to sue the government.
That it’s even necessary to write that sentence is absurd. Worse, taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to secretly fund lawsuits that try to make their lives more expensive.
But newly re-elected Prime Minister Mark Carney intends to do even more of that. The 2025 Liberal platform contained a commitment to “expand” the Court Challenges Program.
When Prime Minister Mark Carney unveils his new front bench on Tuesday, more than half of its members will be fresh faces, while longtime cabinet minister Chrystia Freeland is being shuffled out, sources tell CTV News.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) tells CTV News that Carney’s new cabinet will be a more focused roster, and while the core slate of cabinet ministers is expected to stay under 30 people, he’ll also be appointing up to 10 secretaries of state.
When Mark Carney was asked on the campaign trail about whether federal approval for injection sites would continue under his government, he avoided the contentious topic by saying the effectiveness of those sites was under review.
Even in his evasion, our new prime minister was undermining the position staked out by his predecessor, Justin Trudeau. When asked about such controversial initiatives as injection sites and the distribution of so-called “safer supply” opioids to those with severe addictions, the latter was fond of insisting his government was simply “following the science.”
Carney’s aim to cut immigration marred by undercounting of temporary migrants, economists warn
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s aim to reduce immigration to “sustainable levels” will be achievable only on paper unless changes are brought in to ensure that Canada doesn’t continue to undercount the number of non-permanent residents living here, economists warn.
Mr. Carney, at his first press conference after the election, pledged to cap the total number of temporary workers and international students at less than 5 per cent of Canada’s population by the end of 2027.
For years, Canada’s top telecom providers rode a wave of high immigration, collectively adding hundreds of thousands of new mobile phone subscribers most quarters. Those days are over.
Canada’s three biggest wireless firms — BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. — all cited tighter immigration rules when explaining to investors over the past two quarters why subscriber growth has slowed. The trio recorded fewer than 54,000 net new mobile subscribers in the first quarter, the lowest number in four years.
Believe nothing from corporate Canada or the Liberal gov’t on immigration.
Newly minted Prime Minister Mark Carney emerged relatively unscathed from his first meeting with President Donald Trump. Now, he must deal with a budding national unity crisis as separatist support in Western Canada has blossomed. If Carney had been hoping for a post-electoral grace period in office, those hopes have been dashed.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first major test on the world stage came this week, when he met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington. While the discussions covered a range of bilateral issues—from trade to energy cooperation—defence spending was also a focal point.
The United States has long pressed Canada to increase its military investment. The meeting brought renewed scrutiny of Ottawa’s commitment to its NATO obligations, with President Trump saying that he was pleased that Canada was beginning to spend more on defence.
“Albertans feel an existential threat from Ottawa,” says Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. “I think the rest of the country may feel an existential threat from Donald Trump. Alberta feels the same thing — but the existential threat, it’s from Ottawa.”
Nanos Research polls published one week after the federal election indicate nearly 30 per cent of Alberta residents support separation from Canada.
From the beginning of his rapid and virtually unimpeded entry into Canada’s seat of power, Mark Carney’s reception has focused heavily upon the idea of Mark Carney. Indeed, there is something almost postmodern about the nature of his appeal: the average Canadian voter knows very little about his tenure with the central banks of Canada and the U.K. (or, for that matter, just what a central bank does). What mattered was his ability to reflect an image of sobriety and prudence—and his demeanour made for a particularly stark contrast with the pageantry of his immediate predecessor.
Following years of diplomatic and trade tensions, China’s ambassador to Canada, Wang Di, insists the two countries can move past what he characterizes as “normal” differences.
“For China and Canada to bring our relationship back onto the right track, we need to seek common ground while reserving differences in a constructive way,” Wang said through a translator in an exclusive broadcast interview with CTV’s Question Period, airing Sunday.
“China and Canada have a lot of differences, and this is very, very normal,” he also said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s election victory speech included a note of humility: “Over my long career, I have made many mistakes, and I will make more, but I commit to admitting them openly, to correcting them quickly, and always learning from them.” Yet it is too late to correct one of his big mistakes. Will he at least admit to and learn from it?
During the election campaign, 28 Liberal candidates (19 of them elected) signed onto a five-point anti-Israel Vote Palestine platform. Vote Palestine began as a BDS project, and quickly gathered steam after a trial run in the 2021 election. The platform contains demands — such as a two-way arms embargo against Israel, a full boycott of Israel-controlled territories and recognition of Palestine as a state — that do not reflect current Liberal policy. In total, 362 candidates signed on.
