What’s Trudeau’s Next Step?
How will our new Prime Minister approach Canada’s issues?
Sam Ridgway, Staff Writer
Canadians have voted in Justin Trudeau and a Liberal Party with a 184 seat majority in Parliament. During a weirdly long campaign run that came to an end on Oct. 19,Trudeau made a long list of promises to constituents across the country, and with a majority government he has the power to turn his words into action. While a lot of us are enjoying the fun memes about our new (lets face it) slightly more charismatic Prime Minister and wondering when that whole legal weed thing is going to happen, poor Trudeau has a lot of things on his mind. Many of these promises have already been brought to the table — despite Trudeau not officially holding the seat until Nov.4,— not the least of which is an effort to reform the Senate, abolish the first-past-the-post electoral system, and initiate an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women. He has also promised to reveal his new cabinet, half of which will be comprised of women. Trudeau has made promises to cut taxes, revisit and amend Bill C-51, legalize marijuana, increase health care spending and prepare climate change reforms in time for the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Paris in December. If you thought your day planner was full imagine what this guy’s looks like. Trudeau’s ambitious, lofty goals are hopeful; but we’ve seen it before. Optimistic, empowered politicians with genuine dreams of a better country get boxed in and beaten down by an age-old political system that loathes change. Shortly following election night, Trudeau spoke directly with President Barack Obama about his plans to withdraw troops from Iraq and Syria. He has said that the President understands his intentions, but he has yet to publish a timeline for these efforts. With so many commitments on the table, it’s no surprise that he is looking to provincial leaders for support. However, according to a press release, Alberta Liberal Leader Dr. David Swann believes that the Alberta NDP budget, which was released on Oct.27,falls short. The Alberta Liberal party had campaigned with the intention to eliminate small business taxes, initiate a debt repayment plan, and create incentives for green initiatives. The NDP budget allegedly contains none of these things, and Liberal representatives believe that this will lead to a massive and growing operational deficit with no action to address the root cause.The federal party will now have to adapt some plans to work with the provincial NDP budget. Liberal representatives from many levels have been reaching out to their voters, a grassroots tactic which is often overlooked post-election. Trudeau himself spent the morning after the election meeting and speaking with commuters in the Montreal subway –an action which has been described by the National Post as both a clever tactic and [just] a good thing to do. Trudeau has commented repeatedly that his work is just beginning, and seems dedicated to working on his promises from the ground up, voter by voter and province by province. No matter what party you voted for, it’s safe to say that we are all anxious to see how the Liberals deliver on the plethora of promises being made to Canadians.
