Melanie Joly’s bid to become Canada’s Ambassador to France has become the focal point of a broader Mark Carney plan to move out senior Trudeau-era Liberals, stage synchronized by-elections, and engineer a major cabinet overhaul within weeks.
According to multiple Liberal and non-Liberal sources, Joly is actively seeking the Paris post, which comes with high visibility, access to elite diplomatic and social circles, and residence at the historic Hôtel de Rigny in the 8th arrondissement, near the Élysée Palace.
The move would also free Carney from an Industry Minister who has drawn mixed reviews inside the party, with several Liberals welcoming news of her potential exit.
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Joly served as, among others, Minister of Tourism, Economic Development, and Foreign Affairs under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The Paris job is currently held by Stéphane Dion, whose own trajectory underscores how prime ministers have used diplomatic postings to clear out political veterans. Trudeau moved Dion to Europe in 2017 as ambassador to Germany from Foreign Affairs Minister post, then shifted him to France in 2022.
If Joly leaves cabinet as sources expect within weeks, she would join a growing list of high profile Liberals exiting domestic politics for international roles. Former Defence Minister Bill Blair is reportedly in line to become Canada’s High Commissioner in London, former Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson is allegedly seeking an ambassadorship to the European Union in Brussels, and Chrystia Freeland, currently serving as the envoy to Reconstruction of Ukraine, has already been named the next Warden of Rhodes House and CEO of the Rhodes Trust.
Carney’s advisers are working to align these departures so that the resulting by-elections can be held on a single unified date early in the new year. The strategy is explicitly framed as an effort to shed what insiders describe as Trudeau-era deadwood.
A cabinet shuffle before Christmas is now widely expected, with one floated timeline placing it in the week of December 15, after the House rises for the holiday break. That would leave Carney presiding over the third iteration of his cabinet within a year, an unusual pace for a new government.
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