Steven MacKinnon | |
|---|---|
.jpg) MacKinnon in 2024 | |
| Leader of the Government in the House of Commons | |
| Assumed office May 13, 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Mark Carney |
| Preceded by | Arielle Kayabaga |
| In office January 24, 2025 – March 14, 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Karina Gould |
| Succeeded by | Arielle Kayabaga |
| Interim January 8, 2024 – July 19, 2024[a] | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Karina Gould |
| Succeeded by | Karina Gould |
| Minister of Transport | |
| Assumed office September 16, 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Mark Carney |
| Preceded by | Chrystia Freeland (Transport and Internal Trade) |
| Minister of Jobs and Families | |
| In office March 14, 2025 – May 13, 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Mark Carney |
| Preceded by | Position established[b] |
| Succeeded by | Patty Hajdu |
| Minister of Employment, Workforce Developmentand Labour | |
| In office December 20, 2024 – March 14, 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by |
|
| Succeeded by | Position abolished[b] |
| Minister of Labourand Seniors | |
| In office July 19, 2024 – December 20, 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Seamus O'Regan |
| Succeeded by |
|
| Chief Government Whip | |
| In office October 28, 2021 – January 8, 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Mark Holland |
| Succeeded by | Ruby Sahota |
| Member of Parliament forGatineau | |
| Assumed office October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Françoise Boivin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Steven Garrett MacKinnon (1966-09-28)September 28, 1966 (age 59) Charlottetown,Prince Edward Island, Canada |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Residence(s) | Gatineau,Quebec, Canada |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation |
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Steven Garrett MacKinnon (born September 28, 1966) is a Canadian politician who has been themember of Parliament (MP) forGatineau since 2015. A member of theLiberal Party, MacKinnon is theGovernment House Leader andMinister of Transport.
MacKinnon was born inCharlottetown,Prince Edward Island, and studied business at theUniversité de Moncton andQueen's University.
In addition to his career in politics, MacKinnon has worked in business and public affairs. From 2007 to 2015, he was Senior Vice-President and National Practice Leader at a global public affairs consultancy firm, where he led teams and major projects in mergers and acquisitions and financial communications.
McKinnon served as executive assistant and an advisor toNew Brunswick PremierFrank McKenna from 1988 to 1995.
A supporter and advisor to former Prime MinisterPaul Martin, McKinnon was named Deputy National Director upon Martin's election as party leader and Prime Minister. He acted as the party's communications chief during the2004 election, and was promoted to national director of theLiberal Party of Canada after the election. In that role, he oversaw an overhaul of the party's constitution and the last competitive leadership contest decided through a delegated convention, both cumulating at the party's convention held in Montreal in December 2006 where fourth place contenderStéphane Dion emerged as the surprised victor. McKinnon announced his resignation as national director in the week immediately following the convention. He later served as the returning officer for the2013 federal leadership election.[1]
MacKinnon first contested for a seat in parliament in the2011 federal election in Gatineau, finishing third and almost 50 points behindFrançoise Boivin, a former Liberal MP running for theNew Democratic Party who secured 62% of the votes, and the then-incumbentBloc Quebecois MPRichard Nadeau by just over 1 point.
Four years later at the2015 election, MacKinnon returned and defeated Boivin by a 2-to-1 margin. He was reelected in 2019 and 2021 with similar margins againstBloc Québécois rival Geneviève Nadeau.
MacKinnon was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement in January 2017, and with the exception for the campaign period in 2019 held the role continuously under three ministers until the dissolution of parliament prior to the2021 election.
Following the2021 election, MacKinnon was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asChief Government Whip and was sworn in as aPrivy Councillor.
He was promoted to cabinet in January 2024 on an interim basis asLeader of the Government in the House of Commons during the parental leave of the incoming House LeaderKarina Gould. He was made a full member of cabinet in July asMinister of Labour andMinister of Seniors. In the cabinet shuffle that took place at the height of the2024–2025 Canadian political crisis, MacKinnon relinquished the senior portfolio and consolidated other workforce related portfolios to become the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour.
In the two weeks following the resignation of Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau, MacKinnon publicly explored a bid in the2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election,[2][3] but opted not to enter the race citing the short duration of the race.[4] He later endorsed the candidacy of former Bank of Canada governorMark Carney.[5] On January 25, MacKinnon was appointedLeader of the Government in the House of Commons of Canada afterKarina Gould resigned from cabinet to run in the leadership race; MacKinnon had previously stood in for her during her maternity leave the previous year.[6]
On March 14, 2025, upon the beginning of the30th Canadian Ministry, MacKinnon was appointedMinister of Jobs and Families by new Prime MinisterMark Carney. He was later appointed as the permanent Leader of the Government in the House of Commons on May 13, 2025. Following the resignation ofChrystia Freeland, he was appointed asMinister of Transport on September 16, 2025.
| 2025 Canadian federal election:Gatineau | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Steven MacKinnon | 34,751 | 60.54 | +10.49 | ||||
| Conservative | Kethlande Pierre | 10,982 | 19.13 | +8.02 | ||||
| Bloc Québécois | Richard Nadeau | 9,373 | 16.33 | -7.09 | ||||
| New Democratic | Daniel Simoncic | 1,615 | 2.81 | -5.81 | ||||
| People's | Mathieu Saint-Jean | 505 | 0.88 | -3.17 | ||||
| Marxist–Leninist | Pierre Soublière | 173 | 0.30 | +0.20 | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 57,399 | 98.91 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 633 | 1.09 | ||||||
| Turnout | 58,032 | 68.20 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 85,086 | |||||||
| Liberalnotional hold | Swing | +1.24 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[7][8] | ||||||||
| Note: number of eligible voters does not include voting day registrations. | ||||||||
| 2021 Canadian federal election:Gatineau | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Steven MacKinnon | 26,267 | 50.0 | -2.1 | $55,420.93 | |||
| Bloc Québécois | Geneviève Nadeau | 12,278 | 23.4 | +2.0 | $13,121.18 | |||
| Conservative | Joel Bernard | 5,752 | 11.0 | +0.7 | $3,144.49 | |||
| New Democratic | Fernanda Rengel | 4,508 | 8.6 | -2.4 | $51.11 | |||
| People's | Mathieu Saint-Jean | 2,264 | 4.3 | +3.3 | $4,401.73 | |||
| Green | Rachid Jemmah | 783 | 1.5 | -2.6 | $0.00 | |||
| Free | Luc Lavoie | 411 | 0.8 | N/A | $564.48 | |||
| Rhinoceros | Sébastien Grenier | 178 | 0.3 | N/A | $0.00 | |||
| Marxist–Leninist | Pierre Soublière | 56 | 0.1 | ±0.0 | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 52,497 | 98.5 | – | $113,382.26 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 818 | 1.5 | ||||||
| Turnout | 53,315 | 63.8 | ||||||
| Registered voters | 83,618 | |||||||
| Liberalhold | Swing | -2.0 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[9] | ||||||||
| 2019 Canadian federal election:Gatineau | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Steven MacKinnon | 29,084 | 52.1 | -1.66 | $67,009.65 | |||
| Bloc Québécois | Geneviève Nadeau | 11,926 | 21.4 | +11.96 | none listed | |||
| New Democratic | Eric Chaurette | 6,128 | 11.0 | -15.56 | $24,553.38 | |||
| Conservative | Sylvie Goneau | 5,745 | 10.3 | +2.11 | $16,427.02 | |||
| Green | Guy Dostaler | 2,264 | 4.1 | +2.47 | $0.00 | |||
| People's | Mario-Roberto Lam | 560 | 1.0 | $1,439.79 | ||||
| Marxist–Leninist | Pierre Soublière | 76 | 0.1 | -0.06 | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 55,783 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 787 | |||||||
| Turnout | 56,570 | 67.0 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 84,463 | |||||||
| Liberalhold | Swing | -6.81 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[10][11] | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Steve MacKinnon | 31,076 | 53.76 | +39.96 | – | |||
| New Democratic | Françoise Boivin | 15,352 | 26.56 | -35.57 | – | |||
| Bloc Québécois | Philippe Boily | 5,455 | 9.44 | -5.49 | – | |||
| Conservative | Luc Angers | 4,733 | 8.19 | +0.18 | – | |||
| Green | Guy Dostaler | 942 | 1.63 | +0.49 | – | |||
| Independent | Guy J. Bellavance | 148 | 0.26 | – | – | |||
| Marxist–Leninist | Pierre Soublière | 94 | 0.16 | – | – | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 57,800 | 100.0 | $221,304.70 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 522 | – | – | |||||
| Turnout | 58,322 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 83,651 | |||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[12][13][14] | ||||||||
| 2011 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Françoise Boivin | 35,262 | 61.83 | +35.71 | ||||
| Bloc Québécois | Richard Nadeau | 8,619 | 15.11 | -14.04 | ||||
| Liberal | Steve MacKinnon | 7,975 | 13.98 | -11.34 | ||||
| Conservative | Jennifer Gearey | 4,532 | 7.95 | -8.86 | ||||
| Green | Jonathan Meijer | 639 | 1.12 | -1.45 | ||||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 57,027 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 365 | 0.64 | ||||||
| Turnout | 57,392 | 64.36 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 89,171 | |||||||
| 29th Canadian Ministry (2015-2025) – Cabinet ofJustin Trudeau | ||
| Cabinet post (1) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Seamus O'Regan | Minister of Labour July 19, 2024 – March 14, 2025 | Position dissolved |