“It’s an incredible pleasure for me to be before you here today to present to Canada a cabinet that looks like Canada”, Mr Trudeau said after he was sworn in.
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“I am very happy…The cabinet is more reflective of Canadian society and I think it’s remarkable the people we have and the strong representation we have”, Dhaliwal was quoted as saying by the Vancouver Sunday.
The procession up the long driveway to Rideau Hall, Justin Trudeau on foot, followed by his Cabinet appointees.
“What needs to change, from a statute perspective is their salaries, so they get the full ministerial salaries, but they have full cabinet privileges around the cabinet table, and they sit on all the cabinet committees as full members of the committee”, Purchase said. When a reporter asked him afterward why the gender balance was important, he replied, “Because it’s 2015”.
His youthful demeanor and enthusiasm also provide a sharp contrast with the sober and dour Harper, who stepped down as prime minister just ahead of the swearing-in ceremony. They arrived shortly after Mr Stephen Harper, the outgoing prime minister, formally tendered his resignation.
The other eight ministers include McKenna; Natural Resources Minister James Carr; Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains; and Fisheries and Oceans Minister Hunter Tootoo, who represents the riding of Nunavut, one of Canada’s three northern territories. His first act as leader was to introduce a completely gender equal cabinet in a move Sheila Copps, the former Canadian deputy prime minister, hailed as a ” historic day for women”.
The newly appointed Democaratic Institutions Minister, 30-year-old Maryam Monsef, first came to Canada as a refugee from Afghanistan. His Associate Minister Kent Hehr, who is also the new Minister for Veterans’ affairs, is a former lawyer.
Former journalist and media manager Chrystia Freeland becomes trade minister, the first women in the job since Pat Carney held the post in Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative government in the 1980s.
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While reaction to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet was largely positive, many Orléans residents were surprised to see local MP Andrew Leslie’s name left of the list.
