Canada’s new finance minister says former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney will not be joining Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet anytime soon. At a press conference in New Brunswick this week, Dominic LeBlanc said Trudeau has asked him to serve as finance minister until the next election. LeBlanc told the Telegraph-Journal discussions between Trudeau and Carney about joining the prime minister’s front bench “have concluded” and that Carney is “not an option” in the next cabinet shuffle. (Postmedia, The Logic) 

Talking Point: Reports of Trudeau courting Carney for his cabinet may have contributed to Chrystia Freeland’s decision to resign in a huff earlier this week. She released a public resignation letter after Trudeau asked her to take a different role, and criticized his handling of federal finances. Her exit now leaves LeBlanc in charge of many critical files in government including finance, U.S.-Canada relations, and border security. Trudeau is expected to make bigger changes to his cabinet as early as Friday. Current members of cabinet say the prime minister plans to take the holidays to mull his own political future.