Canada’s New PM Puts Refugee in Cabinet
Canada’s dreamy new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has been in office for a whopping two days. And he’s already making waves.
Trudeau put into place the most diverse cabinet in Canada’s history. He named 15 men and 15 women to the cabinet, including three Sikh politicians and two aboriginal members of parliament.
Why? “Because it’s 2015,” he said.
Among the new cabinet members is Maryam Monsef, who will be the democratic institutions minister. Let’s pause. I’ve no doubt that you, like me, have no idea what that means. Wikipedia to the rescue:
The minister has been instructed to table an action plan outlining proposals to reform the operations of the Canadian House of Commons in order to increase the role of individual Members of Parliament in the House and its committees. Proposals include allowing more free votes, giving committees more authority, increase research budgets, allowing chairs of house committees to be elected rather than appointed by the prime minister, giving MPs a role in choosing which committees they sit on rather than having them assigned by the prime minister or government house leader.
Monsef is just thirty. She was born in Afghanistan, but lived in Iran with her widowed mother and two sisters as an “illegal refugee… under constant threat of deportation.” At 11, she and her family came to Canada and obtained refugee status. She became a first-time MP just last year.
-KitJ