All ministers are full cabinet members, Liberals say

The easy part was for Justin Trudeau and his Liberals to make these promises…the much tougher part will be to deliver… and not make Canadians regret the change they voted for.

The new prime minister had a ready answer when asked why gender equality among his ministers is important to him.

He is also the son of the late Pierre Trudeau, considered the father of modern Canada, who served as prime minister from 1968 to 1979, and again from 1980 to 1984.

Critics were quick to jump on the fact Trudeau was not upfront about the minister of state status when he unveiled his historic cabinet on Wednesday that featured 15 men and 15 women.

“As that happens, more will get into parliament and more will be in cabinet”, he said.

In a gesture of solidarity she tweeted to Trudeau a selfie of herself surrounded by the her female colleagues with the caption “More proof it IS 2015!”

This week, it’s the prime minister’s pithy defence of his gender-equal cabinet that’s prompted the worldwide media to sit up and take notice.

That’s not to say other governments lacked members from diverse backgrounds.

Those journalists who were waxing poetically about the day’s events yesterday, will now place the new Prime Minister and his Cabinet under the microscope and will begin to analyse and criticize the government as they tackle the formidable issues that lay ahead for them.

Former failed Liberal leader Stephane Dion, who lost an election for the party previously, is the new foreign affairs minister, while Toronto businessman Bill Morneau is the new finance minister.

There are five ministers of South Asian descent.

The new prime minister is tech-savvy… Trudeau is a self-proclaimed feminist, and he promised during the campaigns that if elected, 50 percent of his inner circle of advisers would have gender parity. “We’re also looking forward to working with the new federal government on climate change”, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said in a statement.

His cabinet was seen as an inclusive one and a change from the past, where men have always dominated the most.

Jody Wilson-Raybould, a lawyer and former regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, was sworn in as justice minister, becoming the first aboriginal person to hold the post.