Mackenzie King appointed Howe to two portfolios, as Minister of Railways and Canals and the first Minister of Marine. Howe was the only engineer in Cabinet, which was dominated by lawyers,[27] and was the first engineer to serve in a Liberal government.[28][lower-alpha 1] As there was at that moment no governor general, on 23 October 1935, Howe and his Cabinet colleagues were sworn in by Sir Lyman Duff, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, serving as Administrator.[30][lower-alpha 2]