I’m not a fan boy, but I still like this guy, Trudeau.
But… I’d like to be reasonable about this thing. Here’s (what I think is) an unbiased list of stuff he’s done lately. The good, the bad, and the ugly. And everything in between. I don’t expect 100% from anyone, but I’m hoping for 66% at least.
Here’s my personal accounting how our Canadian PM is doing. If you have any suggestions, or omissions, do let me know what you think. My score so far?
98%
The (major) Good
- Infusing a feeling of positive energy, cooperation, and Sunny Ways, my friends. Sunny Ways!
- Invited all First Ministers and Party Leaders to Paris Climate conference.
- Press conferences at the National Press Gallery. Yea!
- NEW: The Long Form Census back!
- NEW: The appointment of certain Cabinet Minsters, namely Kent Hehr for Veterans Affairs, and Harjit Sajjan for Defence.
- NEW: Scientists (and presumably, the civil service) unmuzzle’d
The (minor) Good
- NEW: Created our first gender balanced cabinet – because it’s 2015. (I used to be ambivalent to this, but see the value and symbolism more and more every day).
The Ambivalent
- Removal of Canadian warplanes from Syrian and Iraqi bombing missions. (No, we are not a warrior nation. Our heritage is based on doing what we must, when there are no alternatives. In this case, there are alternatives.)
The Not So Good
- Reversed Harper’s decision to allow Canada Post to transition to community mailboxes.
The “what the hell? Noooo!”
- Happily, nothing yet.
The List
Here are the things I was particularly looking forward to seeing happen in the first parliament led by Justin Trudeau. They are particularly important ot me
- Thoroughly review C-51, and repeal the naughty bits.
- Repeal the Fair Elections Act.
- Begin a national conversation about the TPP.
- DONE: Reinstate the mandatory long form census.
- Rehire Tony Turner, the musical Environment Canada guy.
- Recommit to providing the proper care and support for our armed forces veterans.
- Establish an inquiry into missing aboriginal women.
- Reestablish data based decision making. Science, yo!
- Kill the F-35. Please, God, kill it with fire.
- Reconfirm the independence of the Supreme Court of Canada.
And last, but most certainly not least – the singular most important thing Trudeau committed to… the game changer, the election winner (I believe):
- Champion and nurture election reform based on preferential ballot.
Nota bene… for those of you visiting me, Teddy, about travel stories and reflections, this post is a bit different. We’ve just had a national election, and the Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau (whom my mother, and others called le Dauphin, perhaps without really knowing what that means). I like the choice.
I’d like to see how many of the things I liked about the platform actually come to fruition.