Raymond Matt pictured with Justin Trudeau, Canada’s new Prime Minister
“Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has named a former senior Ottawa bureaucrat, Peter Harder, to head his transition team, sources said Tuesday, as the incoming prime minister turns his attention to forming government after a winning decisive majority in Monday’s election.
The Liberals won 184 of the country’s 338 seats, capturing 39.5 per cent of the vote as the appetite for change drove the party from third place in Parliament to first with the largest increase in seats in an election in Canada’s history.
Mr. Trudeau has scheduled a 2 p.m. rally with supporters in Ottawa and a 5 p.m. news conference at the National Press Theatre across from Parliament Hill,” wrote Shawn McCarthy, Bill Curry and Daniel Leblanc for The Globe and Mail on October 20, 2015.
McCarthy, Curry and Leblanc continued, “The incoming prime minister faces some pressing issues that require immediate attention. He must decide whether Canada will ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 12-country trade deal that could mean major changes for the country’s supply-managed agricultural sector, auto industry and digital economy. During the campaign, Mr. Trudeau said he needed to see the text of the agreement before deciding on a position. His decision may be helped by the fact U.S. President Barack Obama may not have the support needed to win approval in the U.S. Congress.
He also has a heavy schedule of travel in November, including a trip to the Group of 20 meeting in Turkey, where Middle East conflict will be prominent on the agenda. Mr. Trudeau has promised to end Canada’s combat participation in the air war against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, and will have to explain that change to NATO partners, including the United States.
He will also likely attend the United Nations climate summit in Paris, which starts at the end of November, and has promised to work with the provincial premiers to send a message to the world that Canada fully embraces the battle against global warming and will have a more ambitious strategy. However, Mr. Trudeau said Ottawa will not set any new targets until he has had a chance to meet with the premiers after the UN summit – even though environmental groups are pressing him to meet with the premiers before Paris to bring a new Canadian offer to the table.”
Read the full article here.
Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS
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