18 rookies!! What on earth were you thinking Justin?
When the new Trudeau cabinet held its first meeting, the likes of Ralph Goodale, John McCallum and Stephane Dion were probably giving directions to the washroom to newcomers like Jim Carr and MaryAnn Mihychuk.
Truth be told, Justin did not have a huge veteran line up to pick from. This is the year of the rookie in the NHL, and the same goes for the Class of 2015 on Parliament Hill. But unlike his father Pierre who had very little time or respect for ordinary MP’s, Trudeau the younger goes out of his way to make everyone feel important, so far.
As sure as the Leafs are guaranteed to fade in a run to the playoffs, some of Justin’s cabinet rookies will find a way to screw up. The opposition Conservatives will jump up and say “See, we told you he wasn’t ready to run the country.”
How long might the honeymoon last? If he can get that middle class tax cut through the House of Commons next month, and find a way to deal with that weird place called the Senate, Trudeau will probably still be loved by a majority of Canadians as we move into 2016.
If he shows his ‘rock star charisma’ to the world at the G7 and the Climate Change Summit in Paris, who knows how far his spaceship will travel.
Trudeau campaigned on a very long list of promises, and expectations have never been higher. He ignored the conventional wisdom that said you shouldn’t promise deficits on the campaign trail, and it didn’t seem to hurt him.
He appears to be made of bright beautiful teflon right now. If some of the rookies stumble, he has lots of replacements on the bench. Here’s hoping that nobody hurts themselves like Connor McDavid, and that the PM manages to keep his mother away from too many cameras and microphones.
I’m Roger Currie
