Cabinet receives first substantial changes since the 2015 election
On Jan. 10, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau re-organized the ministerial positions in his cabinet in a strategic move to adapt to the changing political climate in the United States.
At Rideau Hall in Ottawa, three former ministers were given new positions in the cabinet and three new ministers were sworn in. The timing of this shuffle is in anticipation of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Chrystia Freeland, previous minister of international trade, will replace Stéphane Dion as minister of foreign affairs. Dion was an instrumental voice against Quebec separatism in the 1990s and later became the Liberal Party leader.
Freeland, who has Ukrainian roots, was vocal against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014. After Canada imposed sanctions on Russia, Freeland was banned from entering Russia.
François-Philippe Champagne will replace Freeland as the minister of international trade. In the past, trade relations with the U.S. was the responsibility of the minister of international trade, but Prime Minister Trudeau has now assigned this task to Freeland.
Prime Minister Trudeau explained this change at the Jan. 10 press conference stating, “One of the things we’ve seen with President-elect Trump is that he very much takes a trade and jobs lens to his engagement with the world in international diplomacy. And it makes sense for the person who is responsible for foreign relations in the U.S. to also have the ability and the responsibility to engage with issues such as NAFTA.”
Freeland has earned a reputation as a successful negotiator after her role in the signing of the Canada-EU trade agreement.
Katrina Gould has become the minister of democratic institutions. At 29-years-old she is the youngest female minister in Canadian history.There has been no official statement on whether she will attempt to fulfill the Liberal campaign promise to reform the voting system by 2019. The former minister of democratic institutions, Maryam Monsef, failed to produce any results for electoral reform. Monsef told the electoral reform committee that, “They did not complete the hard work we had expected them to. On the hard choices that we asked the committee to make…they took a pass,” which she later apologized for according to an article by CBC.
Monsef has transitioned to the role of minister of status of women. Patty Hajdu, former minister of status of women, is now minister of employment, workforce development and labour. Hajdu replaces MaryAnn Mihychuk, who was not offered an alternate cabinet position.
Ahmed Hussen, the new minister of immigration, spoke in front of the U.S. Homeland Security Committee to advocate for more action by Muslims to identify radicals in their communities and mosques.
Hussen replaces John McCallum, who successfully fulfilled the Liberal campaign promise to bring over 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada.McCallum will be sent to China as the Canadian ambassador to follow up on Prime Minister Trudeau’s priority to increase trade with China, with the possibility of a free trade agreement in the future.
Overall, there are still 15 men and 15 women in the cabinet, a gender balance that has only existed since Prime Minister Trudeau took office in 2015.
Liberal campaign promises, such as to accept Syrian refugees and reform the electoral system, determined Prime Minister Trudeau’s original cabinet appointments. The newly revised cabinet, according to articles from both CBC and Globe and Mail, is to help prepare for the inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20.
Photo by Adam Scotti via CC BY-NC-SA 2.0