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[User 23187]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/c...-trudeau-appoint-gender-equal-cabinet-n457146

Trudeau made good on his campaign process, and has appointed women to 50% of his cabinet positions, the first time in Canadian history that women have been represented to this degree.

For non-Canadians, the cabinet is essentially the basis of government, with each appointed MP (elected member of parliament) becoming a minister over a certain area of governance (environment, finance, foreign affairs, etc). They are responsible for drawing up new budgets and laws.

Bonus: A funny article by the Canadian equivalent of the Onion: 50% female cabinet appointments lead to 5000% increase in guys who suddenly care about merit in cabinet

 

[Kieli]

Didn't he also nominate Elizabeth May to Minister of Environment?

 

[Perfect Blue]

Didn't he also nominate Elizabeth May to Minister of Environment?

Dear god NO

 

[Stumpokapow]

Didn't he also nominate Elizabeth May to Minister of Environment?

is she in the picture in the OP

 

[diaspora]

Didn't he also nominate Elizabeth May to Minister of Environment?

good god, no

 

[Stumpokapow]

No, you can only nominate members of your own party.

this is not true--you don't even need to nominate MPs at all--but it wouldn't make any sense to do otherwise

 

[Ahasverus]

Canadian Obama starting good.

 

[TemplaerDude]

Didn't he also nominate Elizabeth May to Minister of Environment?

That was pipe dream of a bunch of greenaholics. It was a terrible idea from the beginning.

 

[Scum]

What a time to be Canadian.

 

[CreeperBlocks]

What a time to be alive

 

[cameron]

Bonus: A funny article by the Canadian equivalent of the Onion: 50% female cabinet appointments lead to 5000% increase in guys who suddenly care about merit in cabinet

“I suddenly and inexplicably find myself very concerned about this issue,” added Dr. William Harkin of the University of Calgary, also a lifelong male. “Unlike Trudeau, Prime Minister Harper only chose the most qualified people for his cabinet posts, like a climate change denier [Peter Kent] as his Minister of the Environment. Or his numerous Ministers of Defense who never once held military positions.”

Hahaha.

It's been a good day.

 

[Apathy]

His response to the question today was nothing short of amazing. Qualified women finally having equal representation in the cabinet is a huge step.

 

[Madness]

The merit issue is also funny because for the first time, I feel like even more women in the cabinet were qualified for their position than given. The only knock against Trudeau so far is trying to force the long form census back. Yeah yeah, it's good for social programs and keeping track of changes, but I hated filling the shit out.

It's crazy. When they first announced Trudeau after the collapse last election, I thought this is just pandering on the Trudeau name, but he's going to fix a lot of the damage Stephen Harper did. Hopefully, Trudeau also focuses on Western Canada, the real engine of Canada these days and where the largest growth is happening. Harper ran on that platform and didn't do jackshit. This is good for the nation though.

 

[Eos]

TruGOAT

 

[Cynar]

The merit issue is also funny because for the first time, I feel like even more women in the cabinet were qualified for their position than given. The only knock against Trudeau so far is trying to force the long form census back. Yeah yeah, it's good for social programs and keeping track of changes, but I hated filling the shit out.

It's crazy. When they first announced Trudeau after the collapse last election, I thought this is just pandering on the Trudeau name, but he's going to fix a lot of the damage Stephen Harper did. Hopefully, Trudeau also focuses on Western Canada, the real engine of Canada these days and where the largest growth is happening. Harper ran on that platform and didn't do jackshit. This is good for the nation though.

That's not a fucking knock. You need to actually know how things are before policies are implemented and this helps with making sure money goes where it's needed. Good government needs good data. I can't wait to see how screwed up our country is and what we need to do to fix it. It's the first important step before doing any work really.

 

[BUNTING1243]

that's an absolutely incredible moment in that gif. MAN.

 

[diaspora]

that's an absolutely incredible moment in that gif. MAN.

Dion trying to not break his death stare.

 

[enzo_gt]

Bless NotHarper's heart

 

[Indicate]

I still can't believe Harper's gone. It's so awesome.

 

[Armaros]

Bonus: A funny article by the Canadian equivalent of the Onion: 50% female cabinet appointments lead to 5000% increase in guys who suddenly care about merit in cabinet

Amazing

 

[ItIsOkBro]

What a time to be an alive Canadian

 

[Usobuko]

"Someone’s genitals don’t make them qualified for a job."

Sure, it's not as if the world hasn't been operating using this, skin colour, religion and sexual orientation as parameters for centuries.

 

[Tesseract]

i really do think a world ruled by smart but not regressive, angry women is best

i think it's awesome, nothing but smiles here

*edit*

whoa, mixed up my nots

tldr women are awesome

 

[Hellwarden]

Man, you can really tell everyone in Canada really misses Harper.

 

[diaspora]

What a time to be an alive Canadian

 

[dc3k]

so glad Adam Vaughan got shafted

 

[yodathesoda]

Would have preferred best qualified people to do the job regardless of gender. Too many 'gestures' such as this and pulling out any military support against ISIS for my liking.

 

[Indicate]

I also like how Bill Blair didn't get a cabinet position.

 

[Llyranor]

Would have preferred best qualified people to do the job regardless of gender. Too many 'gestures' such as this and pulling out any military support against ISIS for my liking.

Does 'regardless of gender' qualification mean majoritarily men by a large margin?

 

[metalslimer]

Would have preferred best qualified people to do the job regardless of gender. Too many 'gestures' such as this and pulling out any military support against ISIS for my liking.

Whose to say his cabinet wasn't perfectly qualified? Why do you even care he made the "gesture"

 

[Angelus Errare]

Would have preferred best qualified people to do the job regardless of gender. Too many 'gestures' such as this and pulling out any military support against ISIS for my liking.

He found the best qualified, they just happen to be women.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

Would have preferred best qualified people to do the job regardless of gender. Too many 'gestures' such as this and pulling out any military support against ISIS for my liking.

If picking the best qualified people ends up being a male majority then something went wrong.

 

[PastorOfMuppets]

Underrated but he also picked several visible minorities as well. Several Indo-Canadians and a First Nations.

Another big plus, everyone is under 50. I'm so sick of this country's narrative and leadership coming from old people who are still trying to figure out MySpace.

 

[WrenchNinja]

Would have preferred best qualified people to do the job regardless of gender. Too many 'gestures' such as this and pulling out any military support against ISIS for my liking.

it's weird how the best qualified people always tend to be old white men

 

[GuessMyUserName]

Where the Chinese Canadian reps at

 

[Mysterious]

He found the best qualified, they just happen to be women.

That's not completely true. He had to hit a quota of 50%. So either some men were picked to hit the quota or some women were picked to hit the quota.

 

[yodathesoda]

He found the best qualified, they just happen to be women.

Just so happened to be magical 50%.

Also FYI this is 3 more women in cabinet than Harper appointed.

You're all lapping up that PR machine.

 

[Kinitari]

Would have preferred best qualified people to do the job regardless of gender. Too many 'gestures' such as this and pulling out any military support against ISIS for my liking.

I can appreciate the sentiment, but don't think of it like an RPG, where you're picking the highest level characters for your party - after a certain point it's basically impossible to figure out who is going to do better than whom as a minister. That's when picking for diversity becomes a valuable consideration, as in aggregate, it has the potential opportunity to provide a lot of benefits.

 

[bionic77]

I wonder if we will ever have a moment like in the US.

At times I think we are really far away from that kind of progress.

 

[Mysterious]

Just so happened to be magical 50%.

Also FYI this is 3 more women in cabinet than Harper appointed.

You're all lapping up that PR machine.

Really? Also wasn't Harper's Cabinet slightly smaller than Trudeau's?

 

[Zzoram]

Would have preferred best qualified people to do the job regardless of gender. Too many 'gestures' such as this and pulling out any military support against ISIS for my liking.

Gestures matter. Besides, these women have notably more impressive resumes than Harpers Cabinet Ministers.

 

[Deleted member 126221]

I'm really not a liberal supporter, but this is great.

 

[yodathesoda]

Really? Also wasn't Harper's Cabinet slightly smaller than Trudeau's?

It's True.

 

[Angelus Errare]

When people say they'd rather just have "the most qualified" the always mean "why can't they just hire the white men?"

That's not completely true. He had to hit a quota of 50%. So either some men were picked to hit the quota or some women were picked to hit the quota.

Just so happened to be magical 50%.

Also FYI this is 3 more women in cabinet than Harper appointed.

You're all lapping up that PR machine.

Okay. He had a bunch of qualified women but had to cull some to get some less than qualified men to be seen as "fair".

 

[Opto]

Just so happened to be magical 50%.

Also FYI this is 3 more women in cabinet than Harper appointed.

You're all lapping up that PR machine.

If they were all white dudes would you question if they were all the most qualified for the jobs? Or would you be silently assuming they did

 

[Zzoram]

Really? Also wasn't Harper's Cabinet slightly smaller than Trudeau's?

Harper had 39, Trudeau's is 31.

 

[yodathesoda]

Gestures matter. Besides, these women have notably more impressive resumes than Harpers Cabinet Ministers.

From my link:

"The only thing worse is the historical revisionism that assails one at every turn. Overnight, Canadians seem to have developed collective amnesia about the role of women in the previous Conservative government, which, while far from perfect, wasn’t minimal either. In former prime minister Stephen Harper’s nine years, Canada had two female environment ministers, two female health ministers, a female labour minister, public works minister and heritage minister. Those are the same portfolios for which Trudeau is now being credited with appointing women — as if they had never held them before.

In his last cabinet, Harper also named a woman to the national revenue, transport, social development, foreign affairs and consular services, western diversification, seniors’ and fisheries portfolios. (On a historical note, Canada’s first female justice minister, Kim Campbell, who went on to become our first female prime minister, was appointed by a Progressive Conservative prime minister, Brian Mulroney. The first woman ever appointed to cabinet was Ellen Fairclough, appointed by another PC prime minister, John Diefenbaker, in 1957.)"

That amnesia.

 

[Angelus Errare]

If they were all white dudes would you question if they were all the most qualified for the jobs? Or would you be silently assuming they did

This.

 

[GuessMyUserName]

It's True.

Half-true, Harper's was bigger not smaller.

So proportionally, 30% vs 50%

 

[ItIsOkBro]

It's True.

12...out of 39. Surely the author can do math.