Gender Equality For Canadian Government
5th November 2015
The new Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, was sworn in yesterday and he revealed his new government cabinet.
The line-up includes 15 women and 15 men and is the first time in Canadian history this has occurred. Trudeau was asked why gender equality was important to him and he responded “it’s 2015”.
The female ministers include Ottawa lawyer and NGO director Catherine McKenna, who will take on the environment and climate change portfolio; Jody Wilson-Raybould, a lawyer and former regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, was sworn in as attorney general and justice minister – she is also the first aboriginal person to hold the post; and former journalist and media manager Chrystia Freeland is the trade minister, and the first woman in the job since the 1980s. Trudeau’s chief-of-staff is a woman – Katie Telford – and the second one to ever hold the post.
The leader of the Liberal Party won the election on October 19th and is following in his father’s footsteps – Pierre Elliott Trudeau was prime minister from 1968 – 1979 and from 1980 – 1984.
Gender quotas are now in place obliging Ireland’s political parties to put forward at least 30% women candidates for the general election when it is called next year. Whether this will have an impact on the voters’ decisions remains to be seen.
