For the first time in the political history of Canada, a Hindu woman lawmaker, Anita Anand, was inducted in Canada’s Cabinet. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently introduced his Cabinet comprising 37 ministers which includes 3 Sikh MPs as well. The Cabinet consists of 7 new faces besides Anita Anand, who is a former law professor at University of Toronto. The 3 Sikh MPs inducted into the Cabinet include Navdeep Bains(42), Bardish Chagger(39), and Harjit Sajjan(49). The 157-member minority government of the oldest and longest-serving political party took oath on Wednesday under the leadership of Justin Trudeau.
Anand took charge over the portfolios concerned with public services and procurement. Her portfolio is basically concerned with public spending to the tune of billions of dollars, which also includes the purchase of military hardware. As per the reports of Toronto Star, she will also be handling responsibilities attached to Phoenix, the computerized pay system that has disorganized the compensation of thousands of federal civil servants. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Harjit Sajjan, a former Vancouver police detective and a lieutenant colonel in the Forces, will continue to remain the minister of national defense. Bains, on the other hand, was named as the minister of innovation, science, and industry. Although Bains retains the innovation and science portfolios, industry is a recent addition to the same. Bardish Chagger, who officiated as the government House Leader in the previous Parliament, will also be looking after Trudeau’s responsibility for the youth, besides taking on diversity and inclusion.
Amarjeet Sohi, however, however, who was part of the 2015 Cabinet, is not making a return in this Cabinet following his defeat in the election. Trudeau enthusiastically introduced his Cabinet through a tweet that read: "The new strong and skilled team. There’s lots of work ahead, and we’re ready to keep moving Canada forward."
CTV quoted Trudeau as saying, "I'm very excited today to be able to get down to work the way Canadians asked us to in this last election. To pull together the country, focus on issues of economic growth for the middle class, to fight climate change, and to keep Canadians and their communities safe. That is our focus, and this is the team to do that." According to reports by Trudeau, the formation of a minority government by the Liberals means that they will now have to rely on the opposition to get their agendas seamlessly passed in the Parliament.
