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Trudeau’s Brave New Canada: The Globalist
A preview of Canada’s national and global agenda under its new government.
By Beat Guldimann October 27, 2015
In the days leading up to the Canadian federal election 2015, pundits and pollsters had gotten the basic result right when they predicted that Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party would defeat Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.
What nobody saw coming was the landslide that got the Liberal Party 184 of a total of 340 seats in the House of Commons. That election result relegated the Conservatives to the role of Official Opposition — and it basically destroyed the leftist NDP.
Justin Trudeau, the man depicted by Conservative attack ads as not being ready to lead the country, leapt to a convincing victory. Obviously, Canadian voters didn’t share Mr. Harper’s concerns about Pierre-Elliott Trudeau’s offspring.
Trudeau ran on a message of positive change and restoring Canada’s historic values. His message resonated with voters. The next few weeks will demonstrate to Canadians and to the world what that translates into in real political action.
Here is a preview:
Fiscal Policy
One of the key promises in the Liberal campaign was to reduce the tax burden of the middle class and have the top earners in the country pay for it. Trudeau will no doubt push this through Parliament with his first budget.
Canada’s federal government will boost spending to fix public transit in the largest cities and move ahead with key infrastructure projects, for which the budget will go back into deficit for three years.
As long as this deficit is strategically used to only fund infrastructure, Canadians should not be too worried as the investment will indirectly create higher tax revenues and increase GDP in the future.
Style and Tone
Mr. Trudeau promised to run a more open Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and to set a collaborative tone around the cabinet table. This is a welcome change to Mr. Harper’s iron fist approach and his reputation as a micro-manager.
Canadians can expect democratic debate to become more constructive and potentially a little less partisan over the next four years.
Mr. Trudeau even hinted to loosen party discipline and allow more votes in Parliament where MPs are allowed to vote their conscience rather than in fulfillment of party directives. This would be a highly welcome breath of fresh air on Parliament Hill.
Social Policy
Trudeau’s Liberals will bring the divisive debate around integration of immigrants and public phobia against all things Muslim back to the political center. They will almost certainly shut down the debate about hijabs that flared up during the election campaign.
Trudeau also promised to legalize marijuana for personal use. There is no indication yet as to when legislation to that effect will be slotted into the parliamentary process. However, it is highly probable that the term “pot roast” might be getting a new meaning in the foreseeable future.
Security
Expect Mr. Trudeau to attempt reaching a balance between public safety and civil liberties in the tradition of the Liberal Party of his father and Lester B. Pearson. Mr. Trudeau genuinely believes that keeping Canadians safe can be reconciled with freedom of expression and religion.
That notion was somewhat lost during the last legislature. The future will tell how the Liberal government will go about this balancing act.
Foreign Policy
Mr. Trudeau’s first call to a foreign leader was to President Obama, whom he advised that Canada’s CF-18s would soon be pulled from the Syrian theater of operations. This is a clear indication that Canada will take a less hawkish stance in its defense policy.
Canada will no doubt become somewhat gentler and kinder in its foreign policy and keep a distance from the United States — all while understanding that friendly relations with its big southerly neighbor are essential to Canadian interests.
Mr. Trudeau also might not necessarily keep the “best of friends” status that Mr. Harper held with Mr. Netanyahu as he takes a more balanced approach to dealing with the Middle East.
Under its new leadership, Canada will see a return to preferring diplomacy as the primary instrument in foreign policy. This said, nobody should expect Canadian diplomats to just be nice and apologize all the time.
Mr. Trudeau shares Mr. Harper’s dislike of Vladimir Putin and has promised to take an active role in opposing his intrusions and transgressions in Eastern Europe.
International Trade
Unlike his opponent Tom Mulcair, leader of the NDP, Mr. Trudeau has not criticized Mr. Harper for singing off on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The new Canadian government will continue on the path that the Conservatives have paved and secure Canada’s place in international trade. This is wise, given that Canada’s economic future depends more on exports than is the case for most of its peers in the G7.
The next four years will be an interesting new chapter for Canada. Foreign leaders are well advised not to repeat the mistake made by Mr. Trudeau’s recent political opponents and to underestimate his skill and determination.
Time for a new government to deliver progressive change – Broadbent Institute
The Broadbent Institute is an independent, non-partisan organization championing progressive change through the promotion of democracy, equality, and sustainability and the training of a new generation of leaders.
Source: Time for a new government to deliver progressive change – Broadbent Institute
Step Change: Federal Policy Ideas Toward A Low-Carbon Canada: Broadbent Institute & Mowat Centre
With the United Nations Climate Conference in Paris next month, the Broadbent Institute has published, in partnership with the Mowat Centre, Step Change: Federal Policy Ideas Toward a Low-Carbon Canada, which comes at a crucial time with a new federal government leading Canada’s delegation.
The report’s message is clear: The federal government has a critical role to play in driving down greenhouse gas emissions beyond carbon pricing alone. Getting behind the package of seven policy measures outlined in the report will signal to the international community the seriousness of Canada’s commitment to taking action to tackle the climate crisis and transition toward a low-carbon economy.
It starts with you. You can read the report here and share it with your networks.
Executive Summary
Over the last few years, Canadian governments of different levels have taken first steps in the fight against climate change. With a new federal government in power and COP21 in Paris now on the horizon, Canada must calibrate its climate policies with a view to the long term. In addition to carbon pricing — a core policy idea that is gaining ground at the provincial and, increasingly, federal level — seven preliminary policy ideas can also help the federal government steer Canada toward a low-carbon economy:
Laying the Economic Foundation
1. Green Bank of Canada
A state-sponsored financial entity that promotes greater private-sector investment in the low-carbon economy through a variety of mechanisms, such as credit enhancements, guarantees, project aggregation and securitization.
2. Tax Code Retrofit
A suite of changes to the tax code in favour of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other sustainable technologies, supported by a phase-out of remaining fossil fuel subsidies.
Promoting Low-Carbon Solutions
3. Accelerated Coal Phase-Out
Amendment to the Reduction of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Coal-Fired Generation of Electricity Regulations, to accelerate the phase-out of remaining coal-fired power plants.
4. Green Building Compact
A packaged suite of federal energy efficiency and renewables policies, including a revamp of codes and standards, a National Deep Retrofit Program, and a renewable heating program.
5. ‘Lead by Example’ Mandate
A suite of ambitious initiatives for federal facilities and institutions, including on heat and power, transportation, and institutional investing.
6. Clean Transportation Strategy
A packaged suite of policies pertaining to transportation, including a progressive Vehicle Emissions Tax, a Zero Emission Vehicle mandate, and a revamp of infrastructure spending and transfer criteria to include GHG goals.
7. Bio Strategy
A suite of policies promoting best practices in the agricultural and forestry sectors, from cross-compliance with existing funding programs to voluntary initiatives in farming practices.
Considerable work is still required to refine these ideas and bring them to fruition, from costing to consultation. At this stage, this document offers a blueprint for policymakers in their search for the next step changes in federal climate action.
Punjabi Canadians won 18 seats in the recent election in Canada
By Ishani Duttagupta, ET Bureau | 25 Oct, 2015, 10.56AM IST
![Longest-serving south Asian MP Deepak Obhrai, who won for the seventh term from Calgary Forest Lawn as a Conservative Party candidate, believes that no government in Canada — Conservative or Liberal — can ignore the Indian community any more. “There were a large number of candidates of Indian origin in the fray across party lines [44 Indian Canadians contested of which 36 are Punjabi].](https://i0.wp.com/economictimes.indiatimes.com/thumb/msid-49519699%2Cwidth-310%2Cresizemode-4/canadians.jpg "Longest-serving south Asian MP Deepak Obhrai, who won for the seventh term from Calgary Forest Lawn as a Conservative Party candidate, believes that no government in Canada — Conservative or Liberal — can ignore the Indian community any more. “There were a large number of candidates of Indian origin in the fray across party lines [44 Indian Canadians contested of which 36 are Punjabi].")
Longest-serving south Asian MP Deepak Obhrai, who won for the seventh term from Calgary Forest Lawn as a Conservative Party candidate, believes that no government in Canada — Conservative or Liberal — can ignore the Indian community any more. “There were a large number of candidates of Indian origin in the fray across party lines [44 Indian Canadians contested of which 36 are Punjabi].
In Canada’s newly elected Liberal government, under prime minister designate Justin Trudeau, Indian Canadians have notched up a record number of 19 seats. That’s more than double the seats they held in the previous government of eight. Of those 19, 18 are of Punjabi origin — five more than the 13 MPs elected from Punjab in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
While many of these seats have been won in Canada’s largest province of Ontario, a hub for the Indian immigrant community, five of the winners are women. These include Anju Dhillon, a lawyer who contested for the Liberal Party from Dorval-Lachine-La-Salle and became the first Indian-Canadian to win a seat in the French-speaking province of Quebec. Fellow Liberal candidate Ruby Sahota, also a lawyer, won from Brampton North, a riding (constituency in Indian parlance) in Ontario, which has a large immigrant population.
Women Power
“Indians in Canada are active on democratic forums and turned up to vote in large numbers in our riding. In fact, the Indian-Canadian community is very active in political roles because they bring a long tradition of public life from back home in India,” says Sahota, a second-generation immigrant whose parents moved to Canada from Punjab. And while she believes that as an Indian-Canadian MP representing a large number of immigrants she will highlight issues related to the south Asian community, she also wants to focus on young women in her constituency.
“Many young women, some with children, supported me in my campaign. Some of them were from the Indian community, too. As a lawyer and mother myself, I would like to support them in a big way in remaining in the workforce because I see public life and politics to be a male-dominated world so far,” Sahota told ET Magazine.
Pallavi Banerjee, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Calgary, believes that while Indian-Canadians have always been a powerful minority community, the record number of MPs elected in the 2015 federal elections will energise the community further and allow them to find a stronger voice in legislation and policy-making at the highest levels.
“The high representation of women of Indian/South Asian origin in elected offices is also commendable. Besides, the much-needed presence of women in elected offices and public life, the engagement of Indian and South Asian women in public life explodes the stereotypes of South Asian women as docile, dependent and home-bound,” said Banerjee, whose work focuses on immigration in a big way.
“Compared to the US, the level of engagement in political and public life of Indians in Canada is definitely higher. What’s fascinating is how prominently the community is represented across political parties and across provinces,” Banerjee adds.
Indo-Canada Connection
Longest-serving south Asian MP Deepak Obhrai, who won for the seventh term from Calgary Forest Lawn as a Conservative Party candidate, believes that no government in Canada — Conservative or Liberal — can ignore the Indian community any more. “There were a large number of candidates of Indian origin in the fray across party lines [44 Indian Canadians contested of which 36 are Punjabi].
Those who have been elected come from diverse backgrounds and I hope they will all bring some unique value to parliament,” Obhrai said. He is, however, somewhat concerned that some of the candidates are freshers with no experience and may have rode a Liberal wave that swept the Canadian elections.
Sukh Dhaliwal, the newly elected Liberal MP from Surrey-Newton in British Columbia, of course, has no such concerns.
“Canada has always had one of the most diverse parliaments in the world. There is a long history of MPs who were born outside of Canada, and the Liberal Party was the first to appoint an Indo-Canadian as a Cabinet minister in 1997,” Dhaliwal said. He added that Indo-Canadians are prominent in public life across Canada with a large number of candidates for the recent elections from Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
“In my city of Surrey, Indo-Canadians make up more than 30% of the population. Across provinces, Indo-Canadians are stepping up in all areas of society to make significant contributions that are appreciated by all Canadians,” said Dhaliwal.
While the Liberal Party in Canada is seen as a party of immigrants, many of the first-generation immigrants from India who went to Canada in the 1970s supported late prime minister Pierre Trudeau, the father of Justin Trudeau, the new PM of Canada, points out Liberal politician Ruby Dhalla, who became the first woman MP of Indian origin in Canada in 2004.
“There are pockets in Canada known as mini India and mini Punjab. The Indian diaspora overall has done very well here in every facet of Canadian life including healthcare, business, media, real estate and politics. The community has succeeded through hard work and determination,” adds Dhalla.
Andrew Phillip Chernoff 