Trudeau's Wood

"Give me better wood and I will make you a better cabinet."

- Sir John A MacDonald

As offering thoughts on Canada's new Cabinet is the thing to do today, here are my thoughts based on who/what I know:

First off - the Liberal Party was fortunate to have a lot of fine wood from which to build our Cabinet. That matters.  Having said that, much credit goes to Gerry Butts, Katie Telford, Trudeau himself and whoever else was part of the selection process.  

Gender parity.  Regional representation.  Ethnic diversity.  Seasoned vets and fresh blood.  Political acumen and real-life experience.  They really managed to hit every box they needed to.  That's all surface, mind you - the real test comes when the work starts and we see how well this group functions at a team.  It bodes well that they have a cheerleader/teacher as their stone.

Now, the people:

Justin Trudeau (Quebec) - Prime Minister, Intergovernmental Affairs and Youth

Remember the chiding he got for being the youth guy?  Note the youth turnout this past election? It's a smart move, this.  Same is true for holding the Intergovernmental Affairs file.  This is Trudeau playing to his strengths, thinking strategically and being what the Prime minister is supposed to be, all in one.

Stéphane Dion (Quebec) - Foreign Affairs

I don't know how you can be a follower of Canadian politics and not admire this guy.  He's not the most gregarious or charming of people - I remember struggling to find something we could connect over when we met during his leadership run - but he's smart, and dedicated to his country and his belief in what Canada to be in ways not enough people truly appreciate.  We're lucky to have him.

John McCallum (Ontario) - Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

The moment I saw this, I poked at friends in the Canadian Arab Institute and let them know things were in good hands.

Carolyn Bennett (Ontario) - Indigenous and Northern Affairs

Carolyn is a WSIC veteran and a fan of Terri Chu, so it's not hard to see why I'm a fan of hers.  She's a warm person, dedicated, passionate, does her homework, great at outreach.  There are many voices in Canada's Indigenous communities excited to see her in this file - and that really says all that needs said.

Scott Brison (Nova Scotia) - Treasury Board President

I know Brison more by reputation and performance than as a person, but from what I've seen he's going to get along famously with the Canadian Open Community.  While Clement did some good stuff on opening public data for business, Brison will truly understand why OpenGov is about much, much more.  

We're gonna have fun.

Navdeep Bains (Ontario) - Innovation, Science and Economic Development

You can't know Navdeep and not love him.  The guy is a big teddy bear and his mom makes amazing cookies.  I got to know him on a couple Mississauga-area campaigns, and he was magic at the door.

I can't speak to his familiarity with his file, but he's smart, organized and has some business savy to him.  Really interested to see how he does with this file

Which, for the record, is completely different than pure science.  Thank god Team Trudeau recognized this.  If you're focused on sales, you're focused on product, which is not what pure science is about.  Science is about understanding how things work and what things can do.  Science can be turned to marketable opportunities, eventually, but it is smart to keep these two files separate.  I'm crediting this one to GMB.

Kirsty Duncan (Ontario) - Science

Breaking the CBC's order, but it kinda makes sense to put Science next, don't you think?

Full confession - when I first met Duncan, I thought she was fake.  I remember sitting at Queen's Park during a media event with Positive Change and thinking "nobody that empathetic can be successful in politics, so it's gotta be a show."  

Which of course it wasn't.  She really is that empathic.  I have no idea how she does it - I would be so completely drained if I cared as deeply about so many as she did, especially in relation to communities that have faced such hardship.  She truly is a wonder.

Oh - and the Nobel Prize thing, and the Spanish flu research.  They help too.

Maryam Monsef (Ontario) - Democratic Institutions

I can't be the only person that teared up a bit as Maryam Monsef gave the oath.  Such a powerful story, such an inspirational human being.  It's the sort of story that, to me, exemplifies Canada at its best.  Monsef has her work cut out for her, but her sincerity and passion shine and you bet she's committed to a strong, dynamic democracy.

I don't know her, but as my folks' MP I hope to have the chance.  

Hunter Tootoo (Nunavut) - Fisheries and Oceans, and Canadian Coast Guard

An inspired choice that I'm also going to guess was a GMB pick.  

Harper has continuously failed to deliver success of any kind on Canada's North and our northern waters in particular.  He simply didn't understand what was necessary.  The North can't just be a border and some potential resources, so far away from mainstreet Canada - it has to be a community, it has to be a part of the whole.  There needs to be a human stake which, of course, there is.

I'm really excited to see what Tootoo brings to his files.

That's it, my initial thoughts on the people.  Additionally, of course, there's Cabinet Committees - one thing at a time though.  

Parting thoughts:

- Watching the swearing in, I almost felt I looking at the CSI community (albeit in fancier clothes) than a cabinet.  It feels, looks, sounds different than anything we've seen before - and that's a good thing.

- Having said that - did the new Ministers individually choose their outfits, or was there a coordinated effort by the Centre to tell a story?  Freeland's dress in particular stands out.  It's a little thing, this, but potentially concerning if Team Trudeau is scripted down to their attire from day one.  Something to watch out for.

That's all I've got.  What were your thoughts?  Don't feel shy about commenting below!

Katie Telford

Trudeau once told journalist Susan Delacourt that he purposely chose Telford as his campaign chair to push back against those who counseled against her appointment.

“She constantly fights against people who don’t take her seriously, who belittle her, who say they can do a better job and not just men, not just older men, but everyone. And it’s been a great reminder to me of the challenges that we’re still facing in changing politics as a culture.”

Katie Telford is 36 years old.  In a political culture where it's common for powerful positions to be occupied by 20somethings with more confidence than experience, this hardly makes her a young doe - but she's not a grizzled veteran with decades of political warfare under her belt, either.  Add to this her size - Katie hovers somewhere slightly over the five foot mark - and it is not at all difficult to imagine political old boys dismissing her.

That would be their choice to make, but it would be an ill-advised one.

Katie is smart.  She's also confident, but leans more towards the smart side over the confident side than the average political player.  That means that she's willing to admit when she doesn't understand and likelier to err on the side of evidence over gut, or aggressive selling from a political peer.

She asks smart questions and listens carefully to responses, most often with the intent of understanding what's being revealed instead of preparing herself with a counter-attack.  This is incredibly rare in politics, unfortunately, but a trait that puts her in good stead.

Katie's worked in numerous political cultures, both inside government and without.  She is respected, even admired by the clients she has worked with from the private and not-for-profit sectors.  No doubt her inbox is regularly populated with job offers from major organizations and institutions.

Yet for all her professional success, Katie hasn't fallen into the trap many of her peers have, which is to assume they matter more than the causes they're involved in.  You'll never hear Katie say "I only think about things when I'm paid to" or "we are smart, they are dumb."  In fact, Katie has acted on her beliefs and passion in countless silent ways that speak to her commitment to the cause.

My favourite example: a political networking night for women, intended to build up a community of peer support.  There are a great many women who have suffered the slings and arrows of sexism in politics and not just survived, but excelled (Katie being one of them) - to develop a forum for those best practices to be shared speaks to her character.

Having said that, Katie's not afraid to play the game.  She knows how to frame and she's not afraid to bend the rules in favourable ways. 

As is the case with all people, Katie does have her flaws.  She is more strategic than she is empathic, though she is unquestionably more empathetic than the average political bear.  Her focus is perhaps more on political wins than it is on the best possible policy, though she is acutely aware of our democratic deficit and not one to dismiss such concerns out of hand.  Numbers matter, but a number every person in Canadian politics should be adding to their consideration is voter turnout.

There's been lots of crowing about the lack of detailed policy from Team Trudeau so far this campaign (when did it start again? feels like it's been always been with us).  It's an unfair statement, as there have been pieces of policy, but the truth is - and all political people know it - that a detailed platform doesn't win elections and can often sink a campaign in its complexity (messaging nightmare) or in offering a bigger target for opponents to shoot at.

This can't go on forever, of course, and the Liberals have already made tentative moves in the direction of crowd-sourcing policy.  I think this is a smart move, the kind that fits Katie's approach and passions perfectly.

As best explained in the must-read book on facilitation Discuss, Decide, Do, the most appropriate and agile policies are ones the people feel some ownership of.  While Team Trudeau has certainly created some appearance of crowd-sourcing policy and open-sourcing the conversation, they are by-and-large still playing the Strong Leader game, positioning their guy as the only one who can lead Canada forward.

It's a mixed message that sends confusing signals; are the Trudeau Liberals open to the hope and hard work of the people, or are the people supposed to invest in Trudeau and nothing more?  That's always been Harper's line.  It seems to have worked for him, but Trudeau's core brand is that he's not more of the same.

Katie Telford's greatest strength - perhaps her greatest source of strength - is that she's anything but the traditional personification of a political person.  She has both the capacity and willingness to peel back the layers of the game and take a look at the people and ideas that are readily dismissed by politics-as-usual.  After all, she is still seen as one of them by many.

If Team Trudeau live their core messaging, their goal isn't just to win by any means necessary, but to disrupt and adapt Canada's political culture to meet the needs of Canada's modern reality.

Trudeau empowered Telford because she's smart, competent and tested, but also because she fights against the status quo.

We should all be looking forward to Katie continuing that tradition.