Carney to move key carbon tax defender to new cabinet role: source

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault will be given a new portfolio in Mark Carney's cabinet, a source with knowledge of the decision told Radio-Canada.

The Montreal MP and former Greenpeace activist, who has held the portfolio since 2021, will instead be responsible for various files, said the source, who was not authorized to speak on the record.  

However, he will no longer be the face of the fight against climate change. 

Guilbeault learned the news earlier this week, the source said. 

During a news conference Thursday in his riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie, Guilbeault called serving as environment minister "the privilege of a lifetime," but wouldn't confirm or deny if he was leaving the role. 

Canada's next prime minister appears intent on marking a clear break with the Trudeau-era consumer carbon tax, a policy Guilbeault, until recently, aggressively defended. That made him a polarizing minister in parts of the country, and he often faced off against Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

Carney, once a proponent of carbon pricing, campaigned on dropping the carbon tax and repeated the promise in his acceptance speech Monday. 

Guilbeault suggested earlier this year that he's open to replacing the federal scheme if candidates can propose new measures to help Canada achieve its climate targets. Guilbeault blamed Conservative "disinformation" for making the measure toxic to Canadians.

He endorsed Carney during the leadership race. 

Sources with knowledge of Carney's plans have said he's aiming for a more svelte cabinet to confront the trade war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump and the ensuing economic uncertainty. 

Those sources said Carney's team will be in the range of 15 to 20 members — paring down from the 37 ministers in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is keeping her job, according to sources with knowledge of the decision.

Other key players on the Canada-U.S. relations file, like Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne, are also expected to keep their jobs. 

At an event on Thursday, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon did not say whether he's received a call about his future from Carney's team, deferring to Friday's big event.