PEI

No Island MPs in Carney's cabinet, but it does have someone from P.E.I.

For the first time in many decades, Prince Edward Island does not have an MP serving in a federal cabinet. 

Most recent Islander in cabinet was Lawrence MacAulay, who isn't running again.

A man in a navy blue business suit stands between another man in a dark suit and a woman in a blue business suit.
Steven MacKinnon, shown Friday with Prime Minister Mark Carney and Governor General Mary Simon, is an MP from Gatineau in Quebec but was born and raised in Charlottetown. (CBC)

For the first time in many decades, Prince Edward Island does not have an MP serving in a federal cabinet. 

A list of ministers released as Prime Minister Mark Carney was being sworn in did not include any of the province's four Liberal MPs: Lawrence MacAulay (Cardigan), Sean Casey (Charlottetown), Bobby Morrissey (Egmont) and Heath MacDonald (Malpeque). 

MacAulay had been in the cabinets of former prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Justin Trudeau, but announced last month that he would not be running again when the next federal election is held.

A campaign is likely to be triggered within weeks, with an election date in late April or early May. 

No MPs from Alberta were named to Carney's cabinet either, though two Liberals represent ridings there: Randy Boissonnault in Edmonton Centre and George Chahal in Calgary Skyview. Saskatchewan also does not have representation; all of its 14 MPs are Conservative. 

Carney had been highly expected to trim his cabinet from the 37 MPs who were in Trudeau's cabinet, including the prime minister himself. 

Speaking to reporters after the swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall, he compared his team to a wartime cabinet of what he called top-tier talent to help "our nation in the midst of this crisis," the trade war sparked by United States President Donald Trump. 

Though no MPs elected from Prince Edward Island are in Carney's 24-member cabinet, there is some Island content. 

Newly named Minister of Jobs and Family Steven MacKinnon represents the Quebec riding of Gatineau, but was born in Charlottetown and still has relatives on the Island. 

He had most recently been Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour under Trudeau.

MacKinnon says he supports Carney’s bid for Liberal leadership

2 months ago
Duration 0:57
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon was asked why most cabinet ministers are supporting Mark Carney instead of former deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland’s bid for Liberal leadership. MacKinnon said he respects Freeland and her contributions.

MacKinnon was an early supporter of Carney's Liberal leadership campaign after Trudeau said in January that he was stepping down. Carney won the leadership on March 9 with nearly 86 per cent of the votes cast. 

All four Prince Edward Island MPs were Carney supporters as well.

Conservative politicians in P.E.I. not impressed

P.E.I. candidates nominated to run for the Opposition Conservatives in the approaching election were quick to criticize the lack of representation, in a joint statement posted on Malpeque candidate Jamie Fox's Facebook page. 

"Mark Carney's newly unveiled Liberal cabinet has made one thing clear: he doesn't care about P.E.I.," it said in part. 

Carney has decided that Islanders don't deserve a seat at the table.— Statement on Conservative candidate Jamie Fox's Facebook page

"In the middle of a trade war, and despite P.E.I.'s economy being deeply tied to trade with the United States — accounting for 25 per cent of our GDP — Carney has decided that Islanders don't deserve a seat at the table."

The statement also called the cabinet's composition "a damning indictment of the current Liberal MPs from P.E.I., who have been overlooked and deemed unfit to serve as ministers. Islanders put their trust in them to be a voice in Ottawa, but Mark Carney has made it clear: They don't have his confidence."

Past cabinet ministers

In Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper's government, former Egmont MP Gail Shea was the cabinet minister responsible for Prince Edward Island. 

Former Malpeque MP Wayne Easter also spent time in cabinet under Chrétien.

Under former prime minister Brian Mulroney, Tom MacMillan, who represented the riding of Hillsborough, was for a time the Prince Edward Island rep in cabinet.

Other 20th-century cabinet ministers from P.E.I. shown on the Parliament of Canada website included Joe McGuire, Daniel J. MacDonald, David MacDonald, W. Bennett Campbell, John Alexander Macdonald, John Angus LacLean, Cyrus Macmillan, James Layton Ralston, John Ewen Sinclair, and John Watson MacNaught. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carolyn Ryan

Journalist

Carolyn Ryan is the copy editor for CBC P.E.I.'s digital news operation. A graduate of the University of Prince Edward Island and the Carleton University School of Journalism, she has spent decades writing, editing and assigning other staff as a print, radio and digital journalist.