One of the first tasks of the job was to announce a new Liberal cabinet. Trudeau won praise for ensuring equal gender representation in his 31-Minister cabinet, with 15 of the ministers being women. Indeed, the cabinet is really rather delightful, with the Ministers often having more than just a passing link to their new position. For example, the Minister of Health is actually a family doctor, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and Canadian Coastguard is Inuk (singular of Inuit), the Minister of Sport, and Persons with Disabilities is a former Paralympic medallist, the Minister of Science is a medical geographer (a graduate of geography from the University of Toronto like I will be!) and best of all, the Minster of Transport is a former astronaut (as such I expect his policies to include introduction of high-tech hovercrafts and segways to a Canadian street near you).
Trudeau's next high-profile activity was his pledge to accept 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of February 2016. He even personally welcomed the first plane of Syrian refugees, saying " They step off the plane as refugees, but they walk out of this terminal as permanent residents of Canada".
His welcoming of the refugees was praised worldwide and also in Arab media, with Google Trends showing that searches for the word "Canada" in Arabic nations increased and even doubled in Jordan and Lebanon.
Trudeau further pledged to open an investigation into 1200 missing or murdered Aboriginal women and most recently, he will become the first Canadian prime minister to march in Toronto's Pride parade.
So far, Trudeau has presented himself well. I feel he has built a good image and is setting the tone for a new era in Canadian politics. Having said this, I also believe he has gone for the easy points and good PR. He has not really been tested yet, and I guess we have yet to see how he tackles the deficit and economy; integrating refugees in society; and any surprises the world throws at him.
Nevertheless, I like the renewed sense of open-mindedness that Trudeau has brought and I do look forward to seeing how his government progresses. It is also interesting to contextualize Trudeau in light of Donald Trump who is making huge gains in the race for the Republican nomination down in the USA. As always, Canada is very aware of events in America, and I get the feeling that many Canadians are really rather proud of their new liberal government, while critical and perhaps even embarrassed in their southern neighbour for the rising number of followers of Trump's dangerous xenophobic rhetoric.
Now please excuse me while I go place an order for a jumper of a majestic Trudeau on horseback...
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| Source: Shelfies |
