Clean50 Members Play Critical Roles in New Cabinet

By: Gavin Pitchford

Mark Carney announced his post-election cabinet this morning, and we were very pleased to see Clean50 members take on critical roles, with Julie Dabrusin* – after a long stint as Parliamentary Secretary to both the Ministers of Environment and Climate Change, and Natural Resources – becoming herself the new Minister of Environment & Climate Change.

Incoming MP, three-time Clean50 winner in two categories (Cities and Clean Tech) and 10 year mayor of Vancouver, Gregor Robertson*, took over from Nate Erskine-Smith* at Housing – some good news and bad news – as while Gregor is very well qualified for the role, Nate is one of the best informed, smart and conscientious MPs in the House – it’s a very real disappointment to lose him from Cabinet, especially given the extraordinarily strong start he had had in Housing, and thinking big – which led to some key election promises. On the upside, few MPs understand housing or municipal red tape as well as Gregor does.

Ministers François-Philippe Champagne* and Steven Guilbeault* effectively retain their pre-election roles as Minister of Finance and National Revenue, and Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages respectively.

Sadly, Jonathan Wilkinson is also without a portfolio in the new cabinet – Jonathan served ten straight years working incredibly hard and with great purpose, first as Parliamentary Secretary to MOECC Catherine McKenna, then as MOECC himself, and then most recently, as Minister of National Resources. Jonathan’s pre-political career involved a lot of work around climate and sustainability, and he brought a great deal of expertise and commitment to the posts he held.

While it’s great to see 10 Clean50 members elected to Parliament, and four land in senior Cabinet roles, it remains a mystery just where climate action lands on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s list of priorities, but dropping two of the most pro-climate action MPs from cabinet, and elevating others in Montreal ahead of long time climate advocate Eric St-Pierre* suggests that appeasing Alberta and tar-sands operators may rank higher than it should – and is worrying.

As much as Gretzky is no longer any Canadian’s hero, his advice to skate to where the puck is going to be is prescient – and for a long term prosperous future, we should be betting big on clean and climate tech – not placating an industry that sheds several thousand people from payroll every time a sheikh half a world away sneezes.

Mark Carney's new cabinet - Clean50 members circled. Picture credit: CBC

The whole list of Cabinet members is here:

  • Julie Dabrusin*, Minister of Environment and Climate Change
  • Gregor Robertson*, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada
  • François-Philippe Champagne*, Minister of Finance and National Revenue
  • Steven Guilbeault*, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages
  • Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
  • Shafqat Ali, President of the Treasury Board
  • Rebecca Alty, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations
  • Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Public Safety
  • Rebecca Chartrand, Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency
  • Sean Fraser, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
  • Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Transport and Internal Trade
  • Mandy Gull-Masty, Minister of Indigenous Services
  • Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario
  • Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
  • Dominic LeBlanc, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs and One Canadian Economy
  • Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement
  • Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
  • Steven MacKinnon, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
  • David J. McGuinty, Minister of National Defence
  • Jill McKnight, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence
  • Lena Metlege Diab, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
  • Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health
  • Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada
  • Maninder Sidhu, Minister of International Trade
  • Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
  • Joanne Thompson, Minister of Fisheries
  • Rechie Valdez, Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism)

    * denotes Clean50 member

The Cabinet will be supported by 10 secretaries of State, appointed as follows:

  • Buckley Belanger, Secretary of State (Rural Development)
  • Stephen Fuhr, Secretary of State (Defence Procurement)
  • Anna Gainey, Secretary of State (Children and Youth)
  • Wayne Long, Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)
  • Stephanie McLean, Secretary of State (Seniors)
  • Nathalie Provost, Secretary of State (Nature)
  • Ruby Sahota, Secretary of State (Combatting Crime)
  • Randeep Sarai, Secretary of State (International Development)
  • Adam van Koeverden, Secretary of State (Sport)
    John Zerucelli, Secretary of State (Labour)