Carney Won’t Join Government, Trudeau Gives No Sign of Leaving: Minister LeBlanc

Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney speaks to reporters at the Liberal caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C., on Sept. 10, 2024. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

Former central banker Mark Carney will not be joining the Liberal government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is giving no indication he will step down, according to newly minted Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc.

LeBlanc spoke on several hot issues that have gripped Ottawa in recent days in an interview with Brunswick News. The minister from New Brunswick said he’s been given assurances the finance portfolio is firmly in his hands, as rumours have been swirling that Trudeau intended to give the role to Carney.

“Carney is not an option,” said LeBlanc. “That discussion has concluded.”

LeBlanc was appointed finance minister on Dec. 16, a few hours after Chrystia Freeland made public her letter of resignation to Trudeau. She wrote that Trudeau had told her on Dec. 13 he was removing her from finance and offering her another unspecified position in cabinet.

Freeland said this represented a loss of confidence in her and that she could not continue to serve under this condition.

The relationship between Trudeau and Freeland has been under scrutiny since the summer, when leaks out of the Prime Minister’s Office suggested Freeland was not communicating the government’s fiscal policies well in the context of dropping public approval.

Carney, a former central bank governor in Canada and the UK, was also being floated as a potential addition to the Liberal government.

Trudeau dismissed the issue in remarks in July, saying he had “full confidence” in Freeland while also confirming he had been trying to get Carney into politics “for years.”

“I think he would be an outstanding addition at a time when Canadians need good people to step up in politics,” said Trudeau.

Two months later, in early September, Carney was appointed chair of Trudeau’s Task Force on Economic Growth, a party position, outside the federal government.

Carney is currently chair of Brookfield Asset Management and Head of Transition Investing and serves as the United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Change and Finance. He is seen as a potential future Liberal Party leadership contender and has not denied being eventually interested in running.

“The opportunity may present itself,” Carney responded when asked by Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith on his podcast in October whether he will put his name on the ballot at some point.

Tumultuous Times

LeBlanc is taking over the finance portfolio at a critical juncture when Canada is facing a threat of 25 percent tariffs from the incoming U.S. administration. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs as soon as he take office on January if border security is not improved.

There will be continuity for LeBlanc in his new portfolio. In his role of public safety minister, he prepared Canada’s border plan to stave off the tariff threat. He told Brunswick News he doesn’t expect to be in charge of public safety in the long term but will keep the lead on the border. He has retained his role as intergovernmental affairs minister.

A cabinet shuffle could come in the next few days, given Freeland and Housing Minister Sean Fraser’s resignations on Dec. 16. Others who left cabinet in recent months include Randy Boissonnault, Pablo Rodriguez, and Seamus O'Regan. Three other ministers have also said they will not seek re-election, including Marie-Claude Bibeau at national revenue.

The picture of the next cabinet is uncertain and there have been growing questions about Trudeau’s political future this week, with an increasing number of Liberal MPs asking him to resign.

LeBlanc told Brunswick News Trudeau has given no sign he’s about to heed those calls.

“I talked to him a fair bit this week and he gave no indication that he was doing anything other than working on some of the things that he and I talked about Monday: the tariff issue, border security, the incoming American administration,” said LeBlanc.

Liberal MP Sean Casey, who has been publicly calling for Trudeau to step down for months, has the same read of the situation.

“There’s not a single indicator, in anything that he says or does, that would tell me otherwise,” Casey said on Dec. 17. “He seems to be absolutely committed.”

Speaking at the Liberal holiday caucus party on Dec. 17, Trudeau compared the recent infighting to that of a family squabbling during the holidays. “Like most families, we work our way through it,” he said, without addressing his political future.

All opposition party leaders have asked Trudeau to step down, but only NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh can have an effect by pulling his support in the government to send the country into an election. Singh has so far not committed to do so. However, NDP House Leader Peter Julian on Dec. 16 said the party could consider voting non-confidence in February or March if Trudeau stays on.

Jennifer Cowan, Andrew Chen, and Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.