Prime Minister Mark Carney named Montreal MP Marc Miller as the new minister of Canadian identity and culture on Monday, in a small cabinet shuffle to fill holes created after Steven Guilbeault resigned from cabinet last week.
Guilbeault will remain a Liberal MP but submitted his resignation on Thursday, following the signing of Ottawa's new energy pact with Alberta that paves the way for a new oil pipeline to the British Columbia coast.
Miller was in former prime minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet between 2019 and 2025 but was not included in Carney's cabinet until now. In addition to culture and identity he was named minister for official languages.
Government Transformation Minister Joël Lightbound replaces Guilbeault as Carney's Quebec lieutenant, while Environment and Climate Change Minister Julie Dabrusin assumes responsibility for the nature portfolio.
The ministers did not take questions from media following the swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall Monday afternoon.
Guilbeault served as environment minister for four years before Carney became prime minister, and was also the heritage minister from 2019 to 2021.
Under the Trudeau government, the heritage ministry was focused in large part on taking on U.S. tech giants with legislation to compel them to make financial contributions to Canadian content and news.
As part of that effort, Guilbeault introduced the Online Streaming Act, which became law under his successor, along with the Online News Act.
Guilbeault was brought back to the ministry — now called Canadian identity and culture — after this spring's federal election. But the ministry's mandate was less clear as Carney's government moved away from tech regulation.
Carney created a separate ministerial portfolio for artificial intelligence, leaving open questions about the division of power in government on issues like copyright and AI. Both the AI minister and the justice minister are expected to introduce new bills dealing in part with online harms; the culture minister is also expected to play a role in tackling the issue.
Miller takes on the role as Carney's government is facing heavy pressure from the U.S. to eliminate both the Online Streaming Act and Online News Act.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2025.
