Carney revives advisory committee on Canada-U.S. economic relations

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Tuesday that he is bringing back an advisory committee on Canada – U.S. trade and among the high profile advisors is a former Conservative leader and a former high commissioner to the United Kingdom.

The committee is a revival of former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s Council on Canada-U.S. Relations, which was established in January 2025.

Carney has renamed the committee, calling it the Advisory Committee on Canada-U.S. Economic Relations and appointed a nearly entirely new group of advisors.

The group includes former Conservative leader Eric O’Toole, former Liberal cabinet minister and high commissioner high commissioner to the United Kingdom Ralph Goodale, former Conservative cabinet minister Lisa Raitt and former Nunavut premier P.J. Akeeagok.

“Canada must pursue a fair deal with the United States from a position of strength,” says O’Toole in a statement posted to social media. “Protecting Canadian jobs and defending the North requires that we build up our sovereign capabilities.”

Dominic LeBlanc, the minister of Canada-U.S. trade, is set to chair the new committee.

The Prime Minister kept some of Trudeau’s original committee, including former Quebec premier Jean Charest, Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association president Flavio Volpe and Unifor president Lana Payne.

Carney says the council will advise the negotiating teams as Canada anticipated the review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on trade in June.

The revised committee includes more top level business executives than Trudeau’s version, including leaders in major Canadian businesses exposed to tariffs.

Those removed from the committee include former Alberta premier Rachel Notley and “Dragon’s Den” co-stars Arlene Dickenson and Wes Hall.

The full list of names of people on the revised committee have been posted to the Prime Minister’s Office website.

With files from The Canadian Press. 

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