Nova Scotia MPs Sean Fraser and Lena Diab named to federal cabinet

CITYnews halifax / By Mark Hodgins

Two Members of Parliament from Nova Scotia have been appointed to the prime minister’s cabinet.

Returning cabinet member Sean Fraser will serve as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

Fellow Nova Scotian Lena Metlege Diab will serve as Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

It’s a significant position for Diab, 60, who takes on the cabinet file at a time when immigration has been in focus nationwide. It’s also her first appointment to federal cabinet.

Diab, who served as the MLA for Halifax Armdale from 2013 to 2021, held numerous ministerial positions in provincial legislature, including as provincial immigration minister.

“Lena was born in Halifax but moved back to Lebanon as a young child, returning to Halifax in the face of civil war,” reads Diab’s profile on the federal Liberal party’s website.

She oversaw increases to Nova Scotia’s immigration numbers, calling attracting immigrants “crucial” to the province’s economic growth in 2017.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has so far suggested he plans to hold to reduced immigration targets introduced by the previous Liberal government.

Returning Member of Parliament

For Fraser, it’s been a quick about-face as the member for Central Nova returns to cabinet.

Fraser, 40, announced last fall he would not be running in the 2025 federal election in order to spend more time with his family. That quickly changed after the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with reports indicating Carney called Fraser asking him to reconsider his decision to retire.

He held multiple cabinet roles under the Trudeau government, including immigration and housing.

Full list of Mark Carney’s cabinet

• Shafqat Ali, President of the Treasury Board
• Rebecca Alty, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations
• Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Public Safety
• François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue
• Rebecca Chartrand, Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency
• Julie Dabrusin, Minister of Environment and Climate Change
• Sean Fraser, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
• Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Transport and Internal Trade
• Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages
• Mandy Gull-Masty, Minister of Indigenous Services
• Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario
• Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
• Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
• Dominic LeBlanc, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs and One Canadian Economy
• Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement
• Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
• Steven MacKinnon, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
• David J. McGuinty, Minister of National Defence
• Jill McKnight, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence
• Lena Metlege Diab, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
• Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health
• Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada
• Gregor Robertson, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada
• Maninder Sidhu, Minister of International Trade
• Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
• Joanne Thompson, Minister of Fisheries
• Rechie Valdez, Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism)

The secretaries of State:

• Buckley Belanger, Secretary of State (Rural Development)
• Stephen Fuhr, Secretary of State (Defence Procurement)
• Anna Gainey, Secretary of State (Children and Youth)
• Wayne Long, Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)
• Stephanie McLean, Secretary of State (Seniors)
• Nathalie Provost, Secretary of State (Nature)
• Ruby Sahota, Secretary of State (Combatting Crime)
• Randeep Sarai, Secretary of State (International Development)
• Adam van Koeverden, Secretary of State (Sport)
• John Zerucelli, Secretary of State (Labour)

Secretaries of state are effectively junior ministers with a lower salary, smaller office budgets, fewer staff and fewer statutory authorities.