Dominic LeBlanc looks out from the hallway of the Cabinet Room in West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Dec. 16, 2024.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Dominic LeBlanc, who has been Public Safety Minister at the forefront of issues involving the Canada-U.S. border and the incoming administration of Donald Trump, has been sworn in as the new Finance Minister.
A cabinet shuffle announcement took place at Rideau Hall on Monday afternoon. Mr. LeBlanc is replacing Chrystia Freeland, who resigned from cabinet on Monday morning.
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Mr. LeBlanc, a long-time friend of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has held cabinet responsibilities for intergovernmental affairs and fisheries since the Liberals won government in 2015.
Shortly after he was sworn in, Mr. LeBlanc told a news conference outside Rideau Hall that he will remain Intergovernmental Affairs Minister while taking on his new assignment as the third finance minister since Mr. Trudeau led the Liberals to power in 2015. (Bill Morneau and Ms. Freeland were the others.)
The new finance minister also noted that he will assume the role of chair of the Canada-U.S. cabinet committee, and remain focused on border security
“It’s an enormous privilege to serve as the finance minister and it’s something I will pour my heart and soul into for as long as I have the job,” Mr. LeBlanc said.
Mr. LeBlanc said he will turn his attention to leading the development of a federal budget for release in 2025, and that his key priority in his new ministerial assignment is dealing with affordability issues.
He also said he remains committed to working on relations with the United States in his role as intergovernmental affairs minister, and that he will work with the premiers, whom he deemed “essential allies” in dealing with the Donald Trump’s threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods.
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Asked if Mr. Trudeau must resign or if he has the legitimacy to remain prime minister, Mr. LeBlanc said Mr. Trudeau remains focused on the work associated with key issues, including public finances and dealing with the administration of Mr. Trump.
Mr. LeBlanc declined to address Ms. Freeland’s criticisms of Mr. Trudeau, but said he admires her as a colleague and appreciates her as a friend. “She has a proud record of delivering for Canadians,” he said. “She accomplished a great many things.”
Mr. LeBlanc, a Liberal government stalwart, was at the table with Mr. Trudeau when the Prime Minister went to Florida recently for dinner with Mr. Trump at the president-elect’s residence.
The 57-year-old New Brunswick MP, first elected in 2000, is the son of former governor-general Roméo LeBlanc. Dominic LeBlanc, who is married to a former chief judge of the New Brunswick provincial court, survived leukemia after a diagnosis in 2017.