Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced his new cabinet to Canadians. He has also had some interesting discussions with leaders of the opposition parties. Both of these give rise to speculation on what to expect from the Liberal government in the foreseeable future.
The good news is that this time around the prime minister has actually lived up to his promise of gender equity in the cabinet both in terms of representation and responsibility. Three of the top positions in the cabinet, posts with timely and important agendas, have gone to women.
Chrystia Freeland, of course, remains as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister. Clearly, there are many Liberal insiders who see her as the heir-apparent to Justin Trudeau. How quickly push becomes shove remains to be seen. In the meantime, Ms. Freeland holds the second most powerful position in government and the photo-ops and scrums will escalate as she and her handlers seek more exposure.
The appointment of Anita Anand as Minister of Defence was a smart move. Harjit Sajjan, simply had to go, and at a time when sexual misconduct is a huge problem in the military it makes sense to appoint a woman to the top job.
Anand, who represents an Ontario riding, is a lawyer with cabinet experience and a reputation for getting things done. In her previous ministry she was responsible for rolling out COVID-19 vaccines and her organizational skills were evident. She has a reputation for toughness when it is required and, certainly, she is now in a place where that will be a useful attribute.
The elevation of Mélanie Joly to Minister of Foreign Affairs is an interesting one. Ministers in this portfolio have gone in and out like a swinging door in the past several years, a detriment to Canada on the world stage. It will be intriguing to see how long Ms. Joly can hold out. There has been criticism of this appointment because of a widely held belief that she blew her tenure as Heritage Minister. However, she is a polished politician with other accomplishments who played a leading role in the Liberals’ election campaign. And the fact that the left-leaning Toronto Star doesn’t like her makes her okay with me!
These, in my view, are reasonable appointments of qualified individuals. There are others, however, that concern me.
Chief among these is Steven Guilbeault, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change. That one is a bad move. This is a man who has been arrested as a Greenpeace activist. He is clearly one-sided in his beliefs. He does not, in my view, understand or believe in the need for balance between dealing with the essential issues of climate change and the need to move Canada forward on key environmental issues in a manner that also protects our economy, jobs for people, and our quality of life. No matter the urgency, no cabinet position merits a zealot.
I also have some concern about Marc Miller, a life-long friend of the prime minister, who is the new Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. He appears to be a step up from the previous minister, but his statement right out of the box that he wants to “give land back” to Indigenous people is in my view a poor start to his tenure. Instead, his first priority should be to ensure clean and fresh water in every First Nations community in Canada.
He also needs to find a way to get his prime minister out of the hole he dug for himself, and indeed for all Canadians, when he said that Canadian flags on federal buildings, which have been at half-mast for almost half a year to remember the deaths of Indigenous children in residential schools, will stay that way until Indigenous leaders say they can go up.
That is unacceptable and simply another tool handed to First Nations leaders to negotiate for what they want from the Canadian government. RoseAnne Archibald, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, made this clear when she said, “There needs to be another symbolic gesture if Canada wants to raise its flag.”
Perhaps Minister Miller, his government, and yes, First Nations leaders, need to take serious note of Mohawk leaders, who have raised their flags, to be in a position to lower them again on November 11 to honour those who died fighting for our country.
“You can’t lower a flag on November 11, unless you raise it,” said retired Gen. Rick Hillier in a conversation with the National Post. And that’s the point. Flags must always be raised after a reasonable and traditional time of remembrance so that they can be lowered again with significant meaning at appropriate times.
One serious flaw with this cabinet is that while Eastern Canada is well represented in the cabinet, Western Canada is not. From Thunder Bay in Ontario to the Pacific Ocean, there are only six members in cabinet, four of them in British Columbia and only two in the three prairie provinces combined. This does not bode well for Canadian unity where serious divisions still exist.
In addition to unveiling his new cabinet this past week, the prime minister has been meeting with opposition leaders. Media speculation, based on reliable sources, suggest a deal may be in the making between the Liberals and the New Democrats to keep the government in power for at least three years. This would mean that the NDP would always vote with the government on any motions of confidence that could force an election. It would mean they would have to support the Throne Speech, the budget, and other critical legislation put forward by the Liberal government. While not technically, it would effectively be a coalition government. This would only happen if the NDP got something big in return.
The New Democrats would, under those circumstances, force at least part of their socialist agenda on the Trudeau Government as a price for their guaranteed support. That’s the scary part. Canada has thrived because, while the pendulum has swung, we have ultimately found the middle.
We need to find that again. Extremism has fatal flaws.
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox so you don’t miss anything!
Click here to support local news
Mr. Mackenzie, flag issue has proven to be no more than a “tempest in a teapot”.
Consider a comment on the abysmal performance of DF, yet again, in the management of COVID, if you like.
Or perhaps the equally important climate change. Perhaps a member of the local Green Party could continue public education about the changes private citizens can make? I don’t think some of us older people would mind another lesson in civic responsibility.
Thank you, Mr. Holland.
For heavens sake people, when our house is on fire, we have more important things to worry about than the flag on the front porch or what clever words might give some political party a small advantage.
Yes, Canada’s contribution to global emissions is only 1.6%, but our emissions per capita are the same as the USA, 2 x the EU, 2 x China, and 4 x India. The climate change crisis is entirely solvable. All the tools we need to put out the fire out are right in front of us. But we have been like the teenager who can find all manner of excuses for not going to school to give himself a decent future.
No-one is talking about ending fossil fuel use on Monday morning. We have 30 years to make a gradual transition to cleaner types of energy. Canada has all the expertise and resources we need to benefit from leading the change. Our house is on fire and our kids are inside. Meanwhile, some of our politicians are standing in front of the house arguing about which hose to use. We must use every hose we have.
Mr. Mackenzie. I believe your commentary has been somewhat hijacked from it’s original intent, but sometimes that happens. My comment was a bit of a segue, but it is what it is.
A comment here has caused me to want to point out, that I feel these ‘Doppler’ exercises are an exchange of opinions and because my opinion differs from another persons, that does not mean I do not think. Nor am I trying to upset anyone. Some of us have had years to form the opinions we voice, and to not put too biblical a point on it, “it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle”, than to get some of our opinions to change.
I rue the fact that a section of Canada is being desecrated to the point it is. I realize we will be using oil and oil products for years to come, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing nor that it’s right. To call it ‘our’ oil, is in itself a misconception, since only about 30% of production is in Canadian hands. Past governments sold it. Now we want to build pipelines for others to get it out of the country.
I have been to the Columbia ice fields, have seen where it was years ago, travelled to where it is now, and know that it is the headwaters of the Athabaska River. The tar sands operation has now been proven to be the source of at least 13 contaminants, airborne, direct emission and seepage into that water course.
In my lifetime, the world’s use of oil will certainly continue, likely accelerate, and my opinion will matter little in the scheme of things. But hopefully, the world will end this addiction, because our options are few and the consequences will be severe.
The Athabaska project could destroy an area the size of England if fully exploited. Today, some call it the world’s most destructive oil operation. When it’s over, Canada will be left with the devastation of the land, a vast tract of total deforestation (note our PM’s most recent comment on ending deforestation) and polluted rivers: rest assured, Suncor, CNRL or any of the other players, will be interested in the clean-up.
I know I wont see the end of all this, but I will watch it as it plays out and I will comment while I can.
Don’t presume to tell me I don’t think about, or can’t protest what is happening.
I will refrain from yelling.
Here’s a scary thought: what if the “activist” with “one-sided views” turns out to be … right?
I think that the conversation around environmental issues continues to be narrow in scope and focus on easy targets. Albertans are very aware of the GHGs emitted by the oil industry here, however, ongoing improvements in technology do not seem to gain traction. Saudi benchmark crude has @ 1/3 less GHG emissions based on production, however, it is also transported a significant distance by tanker (huge GHG emitters) as well as other GHG emitting processes before it ends up in the fuel tanks and furnaces of Canadians who access this resource. Complicated stuff indeed. A comment was made about the Alberta Heritage fund and Norway – as far as I understand, Norway’s resource revenues are centralized vs. our Canadian model of provincial resource ownership – then there are those complicated equalization costs from our income taxes….
Maybe I am too simple, but the snow globe analogy for global climate impact still works – put 100 snowflakes in representing all the emissions from all the countries and Canada represents 1.5 snowflakes….shake the globe and watch things mix.
No one denies there is room for improving environmental issues, including Albertans, however, it doesn’t seem that the wrath of the outraged is applied evenly across industries in this country. Cement is the #2 emitter of GHGs in the world. Transport is equal to oil and gas in emissions in Canada. Plastics are based on petroleum. Marine emissions are massive, for both commercial and pleasure craft.
Finally, mining seems to be out of the national conversation – watch the quest for rare earths mirror the oil and gas path – no sign of batteries that don’t require these mined elements….sigh.
The environmental crusade will take the greatest toll on those with the fewest means in this country, and not necessarily in large urban centres with transit and other amenities that make it convenient to cast a disgusted glance at the humble internal combustion powered clunker. Rural Canada deserves a voice at the table.
I swore I would never post on here again but all these people that want to save the world are making me upset. They won’t to close down our complete oil industry without even thinking about how or if we can possibly get along without oil as of now there is no alternative to replace it. It’s not just transportation it’s a hundred other things that are made from oil that they never think about but all you have to do is look around your home almost everything in it is made from plastic of some kind including a lot of the clothes we wear. There is just far to many things we use every day to mention but it’s time people started to think before you yell get rid of fossil fuel. Maybe put the energy into coming up with a solution rather than just saying we have to do something and pretending they are doing something good because they are yelling or protesting.
The need for a Minister of Environment and Climate Change that isn’t an old man that is more concerned with jobs and the economy than the environment and climate change may be over. I hope so, for my children, and theirs. It’s time to get rid of power brokers that don’t get it, it’s time to save the world, and the kids are on the verge of getting to the positions to do what we haven’t done.
A month or so ago, our PM deemed it imperative we have an election to allow the people to speak. They spoke and the opinion was much the same as it was two years earlier.
In the time since that last election, doppler has been rather quiet; there seems to be little to comment on unless the man is talking or apologizing for something.
A deal is apparently in the works for the NDP to support Liberal policies. Jagmeet Singhs’ comment that he would “not take pretty or nice words for granted” has been set aside while he works out a synonym for ‘granted’.
Erin O’toole is still trying to deal with the trogs and trolls within his party. Wondering I’m sure, if one of the larger pharmaceutical companies, could develop a ‘spray’ rather than a ‘shot’.
The PM, however, has not found it necessary to get at that legislative backlog, supposedly resulting from his governments’ minority status.
And now he is off to Europe; to COP26 and a meeting that, hopefully, will begin to deal with CO2 emissions and global warming. We, as a nation, are now pledged to deliver some $5.3 Billion to help low and middle income nations with their reduction and mitigation of emissions.
Since our PM has made a commitment, along with a multitude of other world leaders, to end deforestation, then where else do we get the money? In my opinion, a good portion of that pledge will be money earned as Canada sells to the world, one of the worlds’ dirtiest oils! Is that be a practical dilemma or not?
Chrystia Freeland, heir apparent for the job of PM, must anticipate every time the man speaks, that there is the chance he might make another gaffe.
Me too. It enlivens Doppler.
Can’t resist. National Post article by the once entertaining Rex Murphy reads, “Trudeau too busy saving the planet to raise the flag”! There again is the Conservative go-to place.
If it isn’t DT in full frontal body hugging the American flag, Conrad Black noticing our nationhood in decline, RM weighs in too!
The planet is in decline, the pressing priority IS the planet! Wow, when will all the Conservatives “get it”?
Mr. Mackenzie, a good article to open more discussion.
I hope Mr. S. Guilbeault can demonstrate more maturity, becoming his years. There has to be a demonstrable swing to renewable energy. Albert’s past mishandling of their Heritage Fund from years of fossil fuel profits does not mean they can continue to avoid taxing their citizens, balance their budgets, and save for a rainy day – such as climate change actions to reduce emissions. Well, the rainy day for Alberta is here, for the sake of climate change action.
I stand to be corrected concerning Alberta’s Heritage fund; as I recall, Norway was a far better example of judicious use of their resources and profits.
Flag issues – you seem to see this issue as one in which Indigenous people hold some kind of ransom against the Canadian people (them or us?). Conservative writing seems to show this as a divisive issue, one that I do not share. I noticed the un-credible (my word), aging Conrad Black’s recent article in the National Post interpreting the flag issue as a decline in Canadian nationhood. Well another perspective is that the lowered Canadian flag may also represent a nation in reflection, growth, and maturity. As the old hymn, “Abide with Me” notes, “change and decay in all around I see” (Henry Francis Lyte). CB may have reached an age whereby his “eyes” see what has changed as negative and unlike the past. Perhaps. What do you think?
Sorry you find a socialist agenda very scary, I can understand the feeling when I faced the MH agenda & the SH’s agenda – when these were front and centre. However, without the socialist agenda, we would not have healthcare (Tommy Douglas) and many other social safety progressive changes – some of which the USA are still striving to achieve. These did not come at the initiative of conservative forces, but progressive voices for the concern and care of our fellow citizens.