Prime Minister Mark Carney has named former Liberal cabinet member Marc Miller the new minister of Canadian identity and culture, replacing Steven Guilbeault after he resigned from cabinet last week.
Miller will also replace Guilbeault as the minister responsible for official languages.
His appointment was made official at a swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall on Monday afternoon.
Miller notably did not return to cabinet after Carney became prime minister and Liberal leader in March, despite serving multiple ministerial roles under former prime minister Justin Trudeau. He remained out of cabinet following April’s federal election that returned the Liberals to government.
He most recently served as the immigration minister, following stints as the minister for Crown-Indigenous relations and Indigenous services.
Miller’s Montreal-area riding is also right next to Guilbeault’s.
Additionally, Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound will now serve as Carney’s Quebec lieutenant, a position also held by Guilbeault before his resignation.
The Prime Minister’s Office said Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin will now carry the new title of minister of environment, climate change and nature, replacing Guilbeault as the minister overseeing Parks Canada.
Gov. Gen. Mary Simon presided over the ceremony, her first public appearance since she was hospitalized with a respiratory illness last month.
Guilbeault resigned from cabinet Thursday just hours after a memorandum of understanding signed by Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith that he said gives the province several energy-related concessions and sets the stage for a new oil pipeline to the west coast.
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In his resignation statement, Guilbeault said the deal and previous actions by the Carney government had “dismantled” climate policies he pursued as environment minister under Trudeau.
Guilbeault, a former Greenpeace activist, said he will stay on as a Liberal MP.
Miller last week praised Guilbeault as “a highly principled man who loves his constituents and his country,” and said he looked forward to “continuing our work together” in a social media post.
The last time Carney shuffled his cabinet, to replace former transport and internal trade minister Chrystia Freeland after she announced her resignation from cabinet in September, he tasked some current ministers with additional portfolios.
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc took over the internal trade portfolio from Freeland, while Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon was named the new transport minister.
Several Liberal MPs last week were quick to say the party remains united despite Guilbeault’s resignation.
What will Miller's new role be?
Miller takes on his new role as Carney’s government is facing heavy pressure from the U.S. to eliminate both the Online Streaming Act and Online News Act.
The Canadian identity and culture ministry is a rebrand of the heritage ministry, which Guilbeault oversaw as minister under Trudeau from 2019 to 2021 before he was named environment minister.
Under the Trudeau government, the heritage ministry was focused in large part on taking on U.S. tech giants with legislation to compel them to make financial contributions to Canadian content and news.
As part of that effort, Guilbeault introduced the Online Streaming Act, which became law under his successor, along with the Online News Act.
When Guilbeault was brought back as the identity and culture minister under Carney, the ministry’s mandate was less clear as the Carney government moved away from tech regulation.
Carney created a separate ministerial portfolio for artificial intelligence, leaving open questions about the division of power in government on issues like copyright and AI. Both the AI minister and the justice minister are expected to introduce new bills dealing in part with online harms; the culture minister is also expected to play a role in tackling the issue.
Asked by reporters after the swearing-in ceremony if he would be taking the lead on online harms, Miller said he would “be working with the entire cabinet to deal with that.”
“It’s something that we want to get through because we know there are people that are being targeted and hurt,” he said. “This is because of harms that occur in a way that they didn’t when I was growing up, and it’s caused people in some extreme cases to take their own lives.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre took aim at Miller’s track record in an online post Monday afternoon.
“The Trudeau Immigration Minister who helped ruin the immigration system, double housing costs, inflate food prices, and unleash crime is BACK IN THE LIBERAL CABINET. Same costly, incompetent Liberal gang as the last ten years,” Poilievre posted on X.
—With files from the Canadian Press
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