Wednesday, November 04, 2015

When You're Not Running A One Man Show



Some pundits on the Right -- like  Andrew Coyne and John Ivison -- have suggested that Justin Trudeau's promise of a cabinet based on gender parity is a mistake. But there is more to doing a good job than just competence. Life experience, Tim Harper suggests, is critical. And Trudeau's caucus contains an abundance of both:

As it is, the first Trudeau cabinet is likely to include a former general, an author and journalist, a city councillor who was a wrongly accused political prisoner in his native India, a doctor who spent years training physicians in underdeveloped Africa, an engineer and former astronaut, a former mayor and a specialist in aboriginal business and leadership, and an Oxford law graduate named as Quebec’s “up and coming” woman of the year seven years ago.
There are likely to be three former ministers, at least two aboriginals, a successful businessman, a former negotiator for the United Nations peacekeeping mission in East Timor and a quadriplegic who overcame a tragic drive-by shooting to become an Alberta cabinet minister.

People may have forgotten that, when Attawapaskat was in crisis, Stephen Harper sent in an accountant to fix the problem. It was typical for a man whose frame of reference is very narrow and whose life experience is extremely shallow.

And consider the backgrounds of several of the women who may be in Trudeau's cabinet:

Carolyn Bennett, a doctor, is a former junior minister in the Paul Martin government.
South African-born Joyce Murray is a former British Columbia environment minister, founder of a successful reforestation company in her home province and a federal leadership candidate.

Kirsty Duncan, from Etobicoke North, is a medical geographer who served on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that won the 2007 Nobel Prize.

On the East Coast, Yvonne Jones is young (47), has served in the Newfoundland and Labrador cabinet, was the provincial Liberal leader, and took out Conservative cabinet minister Peter Penashue in a 2013 byelection.

Judy Foote served 11 years and held four portfolios in the Newfoundland cabinet. Both women are tough, as well, both having fought breast cancer.

In Manitoba, MaryAnn Mihychuk is a geoscientist who held two portfolios in the NDP government of Gary Doer and was a trailblazer in the mining industry.

Newly elected Whitby MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes reclaimed Jim Flaherty’s old seat. She was born in Grenada, was a volunteer at the Congress of Black Women of Canada, on the Ethics Board and Governing Council of the University of Toronto and entrepreneur of the year.
Maryam Monsef from Peterborough-Kawartha fled with her family from the Taliban in Afghanistan, is the first Afghan-born MP in Canadian history and co-founded a campaign that has raised over $150,000 for women and girls in Afghanistan. Anita Vandenbeld from the Ottawa-area has served in 20 countries for the United Nations development program and was a Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal, her neighbour, Karen McCrimmon, is the first woman to command a Canadian Air Forces flying squadron, and Carla Qualtrough of Delta, B.C., is the former legal counsel for both the British Columbia and Canadian Human Rights Commissions — and, oh yeah, she was born visually impaired and won three medal at the Paralympics. 

There are all kinds of possibilities when you're not running a one man show.

14 comments:

Steve said...

Imagine all the work that can be done by 20 managers getting results instead of one manager contolling everthing.

Owen Gray said...

I think they call that leveraging, Steve -- a principle which physicists have come to respect.

Unknown said...

I'm watching the swearing in right now Owen. Definitely not a one man show. A great change, hopefully a prelude to the future.

Owen Gray said...

I've been watching, too, Pam. I'm impressed.

Scotian said...

THIS is what I expect from an incoming government!

Toby said...

Since Election Night, Conservatives have been announcing that the sky will fall/is falling. Ivison, the Fraser Institute, all the anti-tax spokespeople, Alberta farmers; the next election season has already begun.

Lorne said...

Having just watched the searing-in ceremony, Owen, I am heartened by the depth and range of experience in Trudeau's cabinet. All who have been chosen clearly merit the positions, especially the women he has selected. I have little doubt that they will be given a degree of latitude as real decision-makers that we haven't seen since before the Harper regime gained power.

Owen Gray said...

Clearly, Lorne, these are talented people, who will bring intelligent analysis to the problems that will surely come their way.

Owen Gray said...

The reaction isn't surprising, Toby. But it is typical in-the-box thinking.

Owen Gray said...

We're dealing with a new generation, Scotian, who will bring fresh eyes to the world they have inherited.

Scotian said...

I will also add that this first Trudeau Cabinet shows just what kinds of pygmies were the mainstay of the Harper Cabinets from his first days in Office onward. He had a couple of real people of ability, but for the most part not terribly accomplished people. This Trudeau Cabinet though...WOW! They might be giants indeed!

Owen Gray said...

Each of these folks brings talent to the government, Scotian. But, in their lives before politics, they also bring a dedication to community service.

Anonymous said...

"when Attawapaskat was in crisis, Stephen Harper sent in an accountant to make the problem worse."
Fixed that for you.

Owen Gray said...

An accurate observation, Anon.