It must be stated that being Prime Minister is a tough job; everyone and anyone is watching your every move and judging every misstep. Very rare is it that a PM can manage to satisfy almost everyone. Just considering Trudeau II’s first job in office, however, it looks as though he’s headed where few can go – and his Cabinet might be considered a work of art…
On November 4th Justin Trudeau unveiled his Cabinet, the first ever gender-balanced Cabinet in the history of Canadian politics. This long-awaited Cabinet has 31 positions, 15 of which are held by women. Some may question why gender equality in such a public powerhouse is important, but I think Trudeau answered this question best: “Because it’s 2015”. Spoken like a leader.
The 2015 Cabinet isn’t just being praised for its gender equality though; it contains a very diverse crowd who will be in charge of leading the direction of public policy for the next four years. This includes the first Afghan-Canadian to be elected to parliament, a woman who was also a refugee from the Taliban when she was only ten years old. As well, 18 of the 31 Ministers are rookie MPs, including Bardish Chagger.
Bardish Chagger, the first-time MP from this University’s riding of Waterloo, was named Minister of Small Business and Tourism. In this fall’s election, Chagger beat out the Conservative Party incumbent with 50% of the popular vote – I credit this with the ease of voting offered to students this year. Chagger might be a rookie MP, but she definitely has the qualifications for Cabinet. Both her volunteer work with community organizations and her previous work with politics make her a great fit for her position.
Waterloo born and raised, Chagger even studied at this top-notch institution, achieving a Bachelor’s of Science degree. We hope she meant it when she said “Science matters to this government and there is something that we are doing differently that we have not seen for a long time. Not only are we looking forward to speaking with media. We’re looking forward to working with Canadians and that’s what we’ll be doing “. Finally government scientists are going to be un-muzzled? About time.
To top it off, Trudeau’s decisions, for the most part, fit their positions like a glove. Take the new Minister for Sport and Persons with disabilities, Carla Qualtrough, who is a three-time Paralympic Games medalist and has worked for many years as an advocate for people with disabilities. Amarjeet Sohi is the well-appointed Minister of Infrastructure and Communities. As a former city bus driver, he probably understands better than most the importance of infrastructure and transportation that’s up-to-par.
One of my favourite picks was Jane Philpott. She one of few physicians to hold the position of Health Minister. It seems like common sense that a person who has worked first-hand in hospitals and with Médecins Sans Frontières should be in charge of making decisions about where government money should be dispensed to benefit Canadians. Sadly, this is not the way things are normally done; kudos to Trudeau for doing it right.
Lastly, and I’m not going to get into his qualifications, Harjit Singh Sajjan, Minister of National Defense is also one of the most bad-ass in the Cabinet. If you have five free minutes you should 100% look him up.
Personally, I’m excited for the next four years of politics in Canada, and I hope you are too. Can’t wait to see what this Cabinet will accomplish.
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