Carney’s fresh cabinet picks: Gun control zealot, mayor behind Vancouver housing crisis

Among the newcomers appointed into the new Liberal cabinet are a radical anti-gun activist and a former mayor who helped turn Vancouver into Canada’s most unaffordable housing market.

Source: Facebook

Among the newcomers Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed to his minority Liberal cabinet are a radical anti-gun activist who once called the Charter “a barrier” to further gun control and a former Vancouver mayor who helped turn the city into Canada’s most unaffordable housing market.

Although Carney stuffed half of his cabinet with former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s inner circle, several new ministers are raising eyebrows.

One of the new faces is first-time Quebec MP Nathalie Provost, who became one of Carney’s 10 secretaries of state.

Before running for the Liberals, Provost was a well-known radical anti-gun activist who had spent years urging the federal government to go further on restrictions targeting law-abiding firearm owners.

Provost is a survivor of the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique attack which claimed 14 innocent lives.

Her activism hasn’t been without controversy. In one Radio-Canada interview, Provost presented a fictional rifle labelled “KD85” which turned out to be an online April Fools joke spreading on Reddit.

She also resigned from a Liberal government gun control panel in 2019 in frustration that the government didn’t go even further on firearms bans and a wider-reaching gun confiscation program.

Carney appointed former Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson as Canada’s new housing minister. Robertson won his seat as a Liberal after running in his first federal election bid.

During Robertson’s tenure as mayor, housing prices in the city rose by 179 per cent, making it one of the most expensive housing markets in North America.

When Carney was asked why he gave the housing file to Robertson despite his track record, Carney replied “I’m thrilled that he is in the new role because he brings the type of experience that we need to tackle some aspects of this problem.”

The move ousted four-term MP Nate Erskine-Smith from his cabinet role as housing minister.

Erskine-Smith took to X to voice his concerns; “I’m not back in any role, unfortunately so it may not surprise you that it’s been a strange day on my end, it’s impossible not to feel disrespected and the way it played out doesn’t sit right, but I’m mostly disappointed that my team and I won’t have the chance to build on all we accomplished with only a short runway.”

He thanked former prime minister Trudeau on X, “Thanks to Justin Trudeau for the opportunity to make a bigger difference.”

Another eyebrow-raising addition

is former CTV News anchor Evan Solomon who was elected as the MP for Toronto Centre. Carney appointed Solomon to head the AI and digital innovation portfolio despite lacking a professional background in the field.

Solomon was previously fired from CBC News for allegedly using his role as a journalist to sell artwork to politically connected individuals including Carney.

The CBC “ended its relationship” with Solomon in 2015, after a Toronto Star investigation found that Solomon had taken commissions totalling $300,000 from art sales.

Before entering politics, Solomon worked with the Eurasia Group, a New York-based political risk firm where Carney’s wife, Diana Fox Carney, served as a senior advisor.