Mark Carney has replaced one controversial Justin Trudeau-era minister with another.
Marc Miller, the progressive firebrand Quebec MP who served in several roles under Trudeau including as immigration minister, was sworn in as minister of identity and culture and official languages in Ottawa this afternoon.
He replaces Steven Guilbeault, another progressive firebrand from Quebec, who resigned last week after the prime minister signed a memorandum of understanding with Alberta concerning the building of a new oil pipeline to the Pacific.
Miller, a childhood friend of Trudeau’s, will now be responsible for, among other things, the Carney government’s approach to the arts, sports, media and culture.
It will be his responsibility to deal with Canada’s fast-dying news media sector, which has been devastated by the consequences of the Trudeau government’s Online News Act.
That bill antagonized Meta to such an extent that the US giant blocked all news links for Canadian Facebook and Instagram users, slashing traffic at already-suffering outlets.
NowMedia spent more than five months attempting to arrange an interview with Guilbeault to discuss the Online News Act, but he did not oblige. NowMedia has already requested an interview with Miller.
In response to a question from NowMedia about the act in August, Carney praised the CBC but said little about his plans for the controversial legislation.
As immigration minister, Miller was responsible – at least nominally – for the extraordinary post-COVID-19 growth in the number of immigrants coming to Canada.
Canada’s population grew by an astonishing 1.27 million people in 2023, according to Statistics Canada. The vast majority (97.6 per cent) of that growth was due to immigration.
The numbers were so extreme that Miller’s boss and friend, Trudeau, took it upon himself to say that the new arrivals had “caused so much pressure in our communities” during a press conference in 2024.
He said the immigrants were “driving down wages in some sectors” and pledged to get the numbers “back under control.”
Separately today, Carney announced that Joel Lightbound, the minister of government transformation, public works and procurement, will take over Guilbeault's other former responsibility as Quebec lieutenant.
The environment minister, meanwhile, has a new job title: Julie Dabrusin is now minister of the environment, climate change and nature.
