Champagne served in several cabinet roles under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, including foreign affairs, trade, and most recently as industry minister, where he was responsible for foreign investment files, including the government’s use of subsidies to try to attract automakers to build new plants.
The move allows Carney to shift Dominic LeBlanc, the current finance minister, to the trade ministry, where he will focus on US relations and negotiating on the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. A spokesperson for LeBlanc did not comment on the report.
Carney is to be sworn in as Canada’s prime minister around 11 a.m. Ottawa time on Friday, and will also name a new cabinet.
Champagne, a fluently bilingual politician who holds a seat in the electoral battleground of Quebec, endorsed Carney during the Liberal Party leadership race. The people who confirmed his appointment to finance spoke on condition they not be named in order to discuss a matter that’s still private.
Melanie Joly will remain in her job as foreign minister, according to media reports. Joly hosted Group of Seven foreign ministers at a meeting in Quebec this week.
Relations between the US and Canada are at their worst in decades as the country seethes with anger over the trade war and Trump’s assertion that Canada should be the 51st US state. Canada has put counter-tariffs on about C$60 billion of US products so far in response to Trump’s tariffs on steel, aluminum and other items.
In his successful campaign for the Liberal Party leadership, Carney said the country’s goal must be to build the strongest economy in the Group of Seven. He backed the government’s retaliation plan.
Joly told reporters earlier Friday that Canada needs to put as much pressure as possible on the US administration to back off on the trade war, but said the government is also seeking “off-ramps.” Champagne and LeBlanc were in Washington on Thursday for meetings with White House officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
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Canada finance minister, Francois-Phillipe Champagne, Mark Carney, trade relations, US tariffs
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