You Got Him!

Canada voted and made it clear that they wanted change. Trudeau is the second youngest Prime Minister to ever lead Canada. The 43-year-old incumbent has made some BIG promises to Canadians, many of which are veterans bold and would, without doubt, be very significant even if just applied half of them. If Trudeau can keep these promises he could go down as one of the greatest Prime Minsters Canada has ever seen, but if he gets side-tracked on issues such as Israel, war on ISIS or abortion rights, and/or fails to convince the opposition of his plans his term could become a bit of a blunder.

His Plan

• Tax reform. Cut taxes for the middle class, and raise them for the wealthy. This is a sensible move, but could prove difficult to pass within the first 100 days as he has promised. 👍👍
• Election reform. Replacing plurality-based election with proportional representation is a good move. The popular vote should be a representation of how parties win seats. This will be tough to reign in, but if he can do it this reform will surely benefit Canadians and democracy. 👍👍
• Rebuilding relationship with indigenous people. Something that was lost with the Harper and previous governments was a healthy dialogue with Canada’s many indigenous populations. Reproach will benefit everyone. 👍
• Child benefit reform. Only household incomes below $200,000 will receive child benefit money. Also a good move that is fair. Wealthy Canadians will not cease having children with their child benefits cheques no longer coming in the mail. 👍
• Amendment of Bill C-51. A review of measures implemented during the war on terror are in the best interests of many Canadians who want more privacy. In an era where so much of our information is public, anything that can rollback the control and oversight of the government on our information is a good thing. 👍
• Infrastructure investment. This is a step in the right direction, but it will prove a difficult task. There’s only so much money in the coffers to allocate, and how to do that fairly among the provinces and stimulate long term growth will prove even more challenging. 👍
• Military spending. He plans to cancel the F-35 program, and start up a whole new program that will save billions and be allocated to other important military programs. This looks promising if he can manage it well. 👍
• Legalization of marijuana. This is always an interesting trade off. By legalizing pot there is the sense of control, but also of condoning it’s use which will certainly promote more people to use it. We’ve seen this done in Switzerland and the Netherlands which have since tightened  regulations. Only time will tell how this plays out. 😐
• Climate change. An ongoing global crisis that Trudeau has pledged to address aggressively. He should set his targets first. Without a clear vision it’s just talk. 😐
• Pipeline project reform. A revamp of Canada’s energy project approval process could be a good thing as its a bit unclear now what this process actually is. It will not be easy manage the experienced lobbyists and projects already in the regulatory pipeline. 😐
  

• Assisted suicide. Trudeau wants to legalize physician-assisted death or euthanasia. This is controversial obviously. 😐
• End of war with ISIS and terrorism. An end to Canada’s combat mission fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria looks like a good idea on paper, but how will this play out? Will Canada be able to revert back to training militias and peace keeping missions? 😐

His Advantage

• In his blood. Father, Pierre Trudeau was in office for nearly a decade, and young Justin grew up alongside it all.
• Young and ambitious. He’s young and fired up, ready for change like many Canadians want to see, evidently. This should help encourage more young voters interested into what’s happening in their government. This is a good thing.
• Open-minded. He tends to think outside of the box. This is encouraging as past Canadian PMs tend to be a bit shallow in this department.
• Independent. He isn’t afraid of trying new things, and going against the status quo of his own party. Maybe a catch 22 that could end up alienating him from his own party, but for now Canadians like this about him.

Why He’s Controversial

• Autocratic. He criticized Harper of being a bully with his party, but he’s been doing the same thing, forcing his MPs to vote his way on sensitive issues like abortion.
• Abortion. He promises to oust any cabinet member if they stand against him on abortion. This is not fair nor is it democratic.
• Israel and Foreign Policy. He wants to loosen ties with Israel, the Middle East and all international affairs.
• Unconventional. He likes trying new ways of doing things. This practice might be considered an advantage, but it is also negative as he tends to have disregard for the “rules”. This could get him into trouble very quickly.
• Overly ambitious and naive. He’s young, fired up and maybe a bit naive into how all this works. He has a lot of bills he wants to pass, and many of them are significant. Passing just small reform in Parliament is often a slow an arduous battle.
• Does he actually have a plan? What may be the biggest question on the minds of many Canadians right now is, does Justin Trudeau have a well thought out plan to execute all of this while managing his cabinet, maintaining a healthy budget and running a country or is it all just talk?

Many Canadians will nervously sit and wait to see what happens in this first term. Will Trudeau turn out to be a great reformer like that of Theodore Roosevelt, or will he be a dismal flop like Woodrow Wilson or worse? There’s plenty of time for controversy or scandal or foot-in-the-mouth between now and 2019. Only time will tell. Hold on for the ride Canada!

To find out more about the new leader and his vision for Canada check out the Liberal Party website.