Trudeau gives farewell message as Carney assembles ‘new’ cabinet

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered his final video message on X the day before Mark Carney and his Liberal cabinet are set to be sworn in.

Source: X

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered his final video message on X the day before Mark Carney and his Liberal cabinet are set to be sworn in.

Trudeau’s farewell message stuck to his government’s recent “Team Canada” speaking notes, touching on his “last day in office” before handing off the baton to Carney. Carney is set to be sworn in as prime minister at 11 a.m. ET on Friday.

“I’m so proud of Canadians. I’m proud to have served a country full of people who stand up for what’s right, rise to every occasion, always have each other’s backs when it matters most,” he said in the 20-second video. “This may be my last day here in this office, but I will always be boldly and unapologetically Canadian. My only ask is that no matter what the world throws at us, you always be the same.”

According to alleged insider sources to Radio-Canada, Carney’s cabinet is looking to be more of the same, with some alternations to key roles.

According to the sources, Carney will keep Environment Minister Steven Guilbealt in his cabinet but will shuffle him to a different profile. Guilbeault has formerly served as the minister of Canadian heritage, where he oversaw the Liberal media subsidy program and early attempts to introduce online hate legislation.

In his role at the Ministry of Environment, Guilbealt has been an ardent defender and advocate for Trudeau’s carbon tax and other green energy policies, such as the no-more-pipelines Act.

Guilbealt endorsed Carney’s bid for the leadership.

In a bid to maintain stability in U.S.-Canada relations key Trudeau cabinet ministers are said to be keeping their jobs. The source said Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne are all expected to continue their work.

According to another set of sources cited by the CBC, Carney will shrink the size of his cabinet from Trudeau’s 37 ministers to a 15-20 member cabinet. The CBC said the identities of the sources were kept secret as they were not authorized to speak to the public.

Carney also hired Trudeau’s former safety minister, Liberal MP Marco Mendicino as his chief of staff. Conservatives such as Andrew Scheer took to X Monday pointing out several times Mendicino has been “caught lying.” Mendicino also presided over the government’s response to the Freedom Convoy 2022. He announced in January that he would not be running for re-election.

Trudeau is set to meet Governor-General Mary Simon to officially resign and recommend that she ask Carney to form a new government.

Other sources have indicated to the Toronto Star that Trudeau’s immigration Minister Marc Miller will be ousted from his role and will not have a place in Trudeau’s cabinet.