Trudeau filled his cabinet with members mostly aged between 35 and 50. He also had a even number of female and male members, something that is rarely seen in politics. When asked why he did this, Trudeau simply replied "Because it's 2015". Many members have had no previous experience in politics. This very young cabinet creates a huge risk and reward scenario for Canada. This cabinet could be explosive and create new policies that actually target the younger generation, which is usually ignored. That being said, Trudeau could also fall flat on his face, with the inexperience causing huge problems down the road.
But what does it mean for America? Canada is the United States number one trade partner and the countries have always had close connections. But Steven Harper and the conservatives had been causing tension between the countries, with differing policies and most notably, the different idea's about the Keystone Pipeline. President Obama has voiced his positive opinions on Trudeau and their is clear hope for better connections between the two countries in the future.
Will Trudeau's inexperience along with his relatively young and gender equal cabinet harm his political abilities?
Will Trudeau's liberal policies allow better connections to the US after Harper's tension filled reign?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34725055
http://ckom.com/article/276350/inexperience-hill-climb-liberal-cabinet-u-s-prof
5 comments:
I personally have high hopes for Trudeau and his takeover of the Canadian government just this past election. A change of scenery is for government is almost always good, especially with the long reign of the Canadian conservatives by American standards. I believe that Trudeau’s youth will be of no hindrance to him and his relative inexperience within politics will only drive him further. He has not been completely battered and cheated by the system yet. Furthermore, eight years of service in the parliament isn’t a joke, notably when your father was Prime Minister of Canada for ~25 years. In regards to the surprising amount of women in his cabinet, this will have no affect on his administration's ability to govern, unless a separate factor, such as inexperience, plays a factor. In fact, including more women only plays into Trudeau’s PR and versatility as a politician, but this is just not to say he is doing it just to have a good image. It’s the 21st century, the women in his cabinet are the creme of the crop and more than capable of getting the job done, as it seems. Overall, Trudeau’s relative youth, paired with his liberal views, will assist him in cooperating with an increasingly liberal world and the currently liberal U.S. government.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/canada-pm-trudeau-diverse-women-cabinet-151105062433796.html
O Canada! Our neighbor to the north is certainly a very important foreign policy concern and a long-standing ally. Trudeau's new administration may very well begin a new era of cooperation between the two countries. In fact, its no surprise the President Obama has voiced his support for the new prime minister. Many have compared Trudeau's election to Obama's, seeing as they are both relatively young candidates with a somewhat surprise nomination and hopes for change, following a conservative government. This may very well mean better relations between our two countries.
In terms of his relatively inexperienced cabinet, this is not a surprising or even very important issue considering the nature of politics in the last few decades. Television has made the character and charisma of a politician much more important. As long as Trudeau and his advisers can prove themselves to be capable leaders, their relative inexperience matters little.
Source: NPR News this morning
I think what Trudeau is doing in Canada is so exciting because it ostensibly could never happen in the United States. We are so obsessed with our current system of electing old, moderate, career politicians that a starry-eyed world-beater like Trudeau would never secure the nomination, let alone win an election. While the public has clamored for "outsiders" like Trump and Carson in this campaign, they really aren't considered viable candidates by most experts/analysts. While Trudeau isn't an outsider, but he is quite young, boasting only a brief political career. What he does have, however, is the energy and charismatic optimism of youth. He has a cool tattoo! He boxes! He's a proud "feminist!" He last smoked marijuana in 2010 and has been quite vocal about not only legalizing, but regulating and taxing it! While some expected him to fill his cabinet with elder statesmen to guide him in his new position, he has done the opposite. When taking into account everything else he has said and done, is anyone surprised? Regardless of Trudeau and his party's future successes (or lack thereof) it is an exciting time in Canadian politics. The government is in completely different, younger, Liberal Party hands and I'm personally excited to see what they can do. He and his peers might just prove the relative unimportance of experience in government should they succeed in enacting their various policies and plans.
I think that Trudeau’s political abilities, although at a disadvantage due to member’s lack of experience will flourish because we are in a new age and almost every standard or stereotype for things, especially politics, has been challenged or changed in the last few decades. His young and gender equal cabinet will lead to more decisions that will benefit the youth and “present to Canada a cabinet that looks like Canada”, according to USA Today. One thing that Trudeau’s agenda priorities is shifting the tax burden from the middle class to the rich. This is important because it’s a major shift to democracy from the long ten-year reign of conservative rule over Canada. I think that Trudeau’s liberal policies will allow for better connections with the United States despite Harper because of the nature of the pre-established trade relationship with Canada and the growing support for another neighboring country. Under this new liberal rule, they will be more likely to accept change and to branch out, reaching towards the United States for not only partnership but alliance and a stronger overall bond.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/11/05/prime-minister-canada-women-cabinet-justin-trudeau/75207820/
I agree with Ruby Thursday/Friday, a new perspective is bound to change things. Personally I believe relations will change for the better. My concern is that Trudeau will probably be less willing, as opposed to Harper, to extract natural resources as opposed to preserving wildlife. America is more willing to preserve and it's not too large of a problem. Our economy is becomes more serviced based every day and our service industry expands much faster than our manufacturing industry. This is not the case for Canada. While the executive branches in both countries are more likely to agree with each other, the sum of natural resource imports will contract at worst or slow in growth at best. Canada's middle class, sadly, is supported mostly through their exports of natural resources. 41% of their GDP is through exports and 79% of that to the United States. According to my source "Canada is one of the few developed nations that are a net exporter of energy. Canada imports mostly machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, electronics, chemicals, electricity and durable consumer goods." While relations may change favorably, economic conditions may actually contract for Canada if they do not find a different method for preforming the same processes or changing their economy type all together. The United States may also experience supply shortages of the resources Canada imports. Maybe preserving the environment in Canada and supporting the Canadian middle class are mutually exclusive. Will a liberal president be an ultimately bad thing economically for both countries? Time will tell.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/canada/balance-of-trade
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