Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finishes his speech at the Liberal leadership convention in Ottawa on March 9.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent a farewell message to Canadians on his last day in office, urging them to continue to stand up for the country.
Mr. Trudeau will formally resign his post on Friday and Mark Carney, who won the Liberal leadership on Sunday, will be sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister.
In his goodbye video posted to social media Thursday, Mr. Trudeau spoke directly to Canadians.
Justin Trudeau’s rise and fall, as seen on The Globe’s front pages
“I’m proud to have served a country full of people who stand up for what’s right, rise to every occasion and always have each other’s backs when it matters most,” he said.
“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.”
Mr. Carney’s swearing-in will be followed by the swearing-in of a new cabinet, expected to be a smaller cohort than Mr. Trudeau’s current cabinet.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Public Safety Minister David McGuinty are expected to keep their positions.
Several cabinet ministers have announced in recent months that they are not seeking re-election, and Mr. Carney is likely to fill some of those holes, including the international trade portfolio, seen as a crucial spot as Canada seeks to diversify markets in the face of the tariff war with the United States.
Other current and former cabinet ministers have recently reversed their decisions to sit out the next election. One is Transport and Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand, whose main focus at the moment is reducing interprovincial trade barriers as part of Canada’s response to the tariff fight.
“Trying to leave at this moment is simply impossible,” she told The Globe and Mail on Sunday night ahead of Mr. Carney’s victory.
One question mark is whether former finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland will return to cabinet. She quit on Dec. 16 over a disagreement with Mr. Trudeau’s preferred fiscal direction, a move that ultimately led to Mr. Trudeau’s resignation on Jan. 6 and the launch of the leadership race.
She finished in a distant second place in that contest, capturing only 8 per cent of the available points. Mr. Carney won 85.9 per cent of the points.