Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has revealed his new-look cabinet, and while it has a lot of the old familiar faces, it does appear to show that Trudeau is a little more serious about his relationship with Western Canada.
He has taken arguably the strongest member of his caucus, Chrystia Freeland, and put her in the dual role of deputy prime minister and minister of intergovernmental relations. The deputy prime minister job is essentially a title, with very little actual power, but should anything happen to Trudeau, it signals who would be in charge.
It is ironic that the deputy prime minister is a strong leader who is better suited to being prime minister than Trudeau.
She was terrific in her role as the minister of foreign affairs, and Trudeau is no doubt hoping she brings the same magic to intergovernmental relations.
It’s worth noting that even though she’s the MP for a Toronto riding, she is originally from Alberta’s Peace River area. A lot has changed since she left Alberta to pursue her career as a journalist, but she’s likely the best bet for dealing with governments on the Prairies, who have been highly critical of the Trudeau Liberals.
Seamus O’Reagan is now the minister of natural resources, replacing Amarjeet Sohi, who was defeated in the federal election. From a strictly geographical perspective, if we can’t have an MP from Alberta or Saskatchewan in natural resources, then a Newfoundland-Labrador MP might be the best choice.
The other interesting move is that Catherine McKenna is no longer the minister of the environment. McKenna had been a lightning rod for criticism in the west for her handling of the environmental portfolio and her approach to Western Canada’s energy sector, not to mention her love of selfies. The newly-created post of infrastructure and communities will now be her responsibility.
Replacing her will be Jonathan Wilkinson, who represents a riding in North Vancouver, B.C., but was raised in Saskatoon, and even worked for the Government of Saskatchewan back when Roy Romanow was the premier.
Much like Freeland’s in Alberta, a lot has changed since Wilkinson has left Saskatchewan. And there are no doubt many, especially in this part of the province, who will wish that Wilkinson worked for Brad Wall instead of Romanow.
But he will be far more likely to understand balancing the economy and the environment, and articulate the needs of the west than McKenna.
Ultimately, we’ll find out whether these moves are lip service, or whether the PM is genuinely serious about improving relations with the west.
Western alienation is nothing new. It was pretty strong when Paul Martin took over for Jean Chretien as the Liberal leader and prime minister back in 2003. Martin immediately made Alberta MP Anne McLellan his deputy prime minister, and he handed Saskatchewan MP Ralph Goodale the finance minister post.
(Goodale was a far more effective MP back then than he was in the past sitting of parliament, and he was a damn good finance minister, too).
And while relations with the west were improved, it wasn’t a drastic improvement. Then again, Martin only had a couple of years to smooth a relationship that had gradually become fractured.
But western alienation is much stronger now than it’s ever been. Chretien and Martin could lean on MPs who were living in and representing western ridings. Trudeau has cost himself that luxury.
An improved relationship with Western Canada needs to be his top priority during this minority government. If not, the anger and the calls for separation will only continue to grow.
