Liberals hope for lasting power
Trudeau says he intends to govern for as long a mandate as possible
OTTAWA—Cabinet, COVID-19 and climate: those will be Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s top priorities as he prepares to launch the next Parliament, which he says he hopes to govern for as long a mandate as possible.
“My intention is to continue to deliver to Canadians the ambitious mandate that they voted us in on, to work with other parties to make sure we’re delivering on things that matter to Canadians,” Trudeau said outside a vaccine clinic in an Ottawa suburb, where he took questions from reporters for the first time since he led his party to its third victory last week.
“I am intending to govern as long as Parliament gives us confidence to do so,” the prime minister added, indicating, for now, that he has no plan to raise the prospect of another snap election.
Several days after last week’s result, Omar Alghabra, who held the transportation file in the last government, told the Star that all parties now bear the responsibility of working together to avert an early election — something he said Canadians are hardly keen to see.
“I’m not assuming that it’s going to be four years because we are in a minority situation,” Alghabra said. “I’m hoping that we find a way to work together for a full mandate, but I can’t assume that because all parties have a responsibility in the House of Commons.”
For now, the governing Liberals are working to shape up their timeline for the coming months.
Up first — settling on a new cabinet, which Trudeau said is slated to be sworn in next month.
Chrystia Freeland is so far the only cabinet member confirmed to rejoin Trudeau’s team. The prime minister shared Tuesday, with Freeland by his side, that she will serve once again as deputy prime minister and minister of finance.
Trudeau is also entering the next Parliament without four female cabinet members: ministers Maryam Monsef, Bernadette Jordan and Deb Schulte failed to win back their seats last week, while former Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna announced in June she would not be seeking reelection.
“I will be seeking, as I always do, to ensure that there is a proper regional distribution, that there is a range of skills and diversity around the table,” Trudeau said, “but it is a base starting point that we have gender parity in any cabinet I put together.”
As incoming first-time MPs begin to arrive in Ottawa to complete their parliamentary orientation, there are also questions over when the Commons will be called back, with the prime minister only saying “before the end of fall.”
While that would put the start date anywhere between now and late December, one senior source told the Star that the government is looking to hit the ground running by returning as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the ongoing COVID-19 crisis remains the government’s top priority, Trudeau said, acknowledging in particular the trajectory of the pandemic’s fourth wave in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Among the five pandemic priorities Trudeau outlined Tuesday, the prime minister reiterated campaign promises to reimburse provinces for implementing vaccine passports and protect health-care workers harassed on the job by ensuring perpetrators face criminal charges.
By the end of October, Ottawa’s pledge that all employees in federally regulated air, rail and marine transportation sectors must be vaccinated will come into effect, a requirement that extends to travellers on commercial planes and passengers on interprovincial trains and large marine vessels with overnight accommodations.
But also high on the Liberal government’s agenda is the climate crisis, with the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow set to kick off Oct. 31.
Trudeau said Canada is prepared to enter the summit with “ambitious commitments” and said the 44th general election handed his government a mandate to go “even further and even faster on the fight against climate change.”