I recently read "The Essential Trudeau", a collection of quotes and passages of Pierre Trudeau's writings, essays, interviews, and speeches, arranged by topic. Quite a fascinating little read and I strongly recommend it for any Canadian liberal.
In discussing diversity in his cabinet, Pierre Trudeau talked about how he wanted to ensure at least a rough equality between French and English ministers. There were practical reasons for this, and also a national unity imperative: Pierre Trudeau believed he could better maintain the unity of French and English Canada by ensuring French Canadians saw themselves succeeding at the highest levels of the federal government.
In doing this, however, Pierre Trudeau was also sensitive to avoiding inspiring resentment from English Canadians. He saw an English backlash as a threat to national unity in the same way that French alienation would be. So he followed a few rules of thumb on it:
-If given the choice between a less competent French minister and a more competent English one, choose the English minister.
-If given the choice between English and French ministers of equal competence, prefer the French one when and where you can (and you can't do it all the time, as competencies vary between people).
And at the same time, Pierre Trudeau did not go out on the news and state he is appointing French ministers simply for their French-ness, because to do so would undermine the public standing of those very French ministers he was appointing to his cabinet. He simply appointed as many French ministers to his cabinet as he practically could, while also trying to be sensitive to resentment and backlash and run the country as competently as he could.
Some valuable lessons there I think in how liberals today need to make substantive commitments to diversity in leadership, not merely performative ones. Values must be lived in action, not simply declared.
Wab wore that jersey proudly. He always does. He was out on the concourse pregaming and sitting in the stands like a regular fan. Not in the elite boxes. He did it before he was Premier too.
Lmao oh no I'm with you just highlighting that its at least not a performative example for him like some politicians putting on a hockey jersey who wouldn't even know how to find the arena
Excellent post! Thank you for pointing out that diversity for it’s own sake is pointless, and actually fuels disrespect if it is only used as messaging or a costume. There are, as you say, genuine and practical benefits to diverse points of view.
I too hope that the federal Cabinet will benefit from the most qualified, skilled, and diverse, appointées, and feel sure the PM will listen to them, as he rarely misses the point of anything, let alone his own actions. No one is perfect however, and his choice of ministers’ diversity (in areas of expertise aspects, not just skin colour, race, culture or religion) should indeed help to safeguard the PM and government from blind spots.
It should also be considered that diversity and lived experience are two separate matters, and that we often have expectations based on what we see - that a female will necessarily be pro-women’s issues, or a darker-skinned person will necessarily have a more negative experience with law enforcement - sometimes it’s true and sometimes not.
Choosing the right mix for the best skills and advice, and pleasing Canadian voters and communities is tricky, and following any formula too closely may have it’s own blind spots. I hope to see diversity in Cabinet chosen wisely for the specific benefits it offers, minister by minister.
I recently read "The Essential Trudeau", a collection of quotes and passages of Pierre Trudeau's writings, essays, interviews, and speeches, arranged by topic. Quite a fascinating little read and I strongly recommend it for any Canadian liberal.
In discussing diversity in his cabinet, Pierre Trudeau talked about how he wanted to ensure at least a rough equality between French and English ministers. There were practical reasons for this, and also a national unity imperative: Pierre Trudeau believed he could better maintain the unity of French and English Canada by ensuring French Canadians saw themselves succeeding at the highest levels of the federal government.
In doing this, however, Pierre Trudeau was also sensitive to avoiding inspiring resentment from English Canadians. He saw an English backlash as a threat to national unity in the same way that French alienation would be. So he followed a few rules of thumb on it:
-If given the choice between a less competent French minister and a more competent English one, choose the English minister.
-If given the choice between English and French ministers of equal competence, prefer the French one when and where you can (and you can't do it all the time, as competencies vary between people).
And at the same time, Pierre Trudeau did not go out on the news and state he is appointing French ministers simply for their French-ness, because to do so would undermine the public standing of those very French ministers he was appointing to his cabinet. He simply appointed as many French ministers to his cabinet as he practically could, while also trying to be sensitive to resentment and backlash and run the country as competently as he could.
Some valuable lessons there I think in how liberals today need to make substantive commitments to diversity in leadership, not merely performative ones. Values must be lived in action, not simply declared.
Wab wore that jersey proudly. He always does. He was out on the concourse pregaming and sitting in the stands like a regular fan. Not in the elite boxes. He did it before he was Premier too.
Was not attempting to claim his Jets fandom is insincere I’m just saying, you can put it on after your national TV hit
Lmao oh no I'm with you just highlighting that its at least not a performative example for him like some politicians putting on a hockey jersey who wouldn't even know how to find the arena
Excellent post! Thank you for pointing out that diversity for it’s own sake is pointless, and actually fuels disrespect if it is only used as messaging or a costume. There are, as you say, genuine and practical benefits to diverse points of view.
I too hope that the federal Cabinet will benefit from the most qualified, skilled, and diverse, appointées, and feel sure the PM will listen to them, as he rarely misses the point of anything, let alone his own actions. No one is perfect however, and his choice of ministers’ diversity (in areas of expertise aspects, not just skin colour, race, culture or religion) should indeed help to safeguard the PM and government from blind spots.
It should also be considered that diversity and lived experience are two separate matters, and that we often have expectations based on what we see - that a female will necessarily be pro-women’s issues, or a darker-skinned person will necessarily have a more negative experience with law enforcement - sometimes it’s true and sometimes not.
Choosing the right mix for the best skills and advice, and pleasing Canadian voters and communities is tricky, and following any formula too closely may have it’s own blind spots. I hope to see diversity in Cabinet chosen wisely for the specific benefits it offers, minister by minister.
Hmmmm ..... Evan, you are beginning to scare me!
This makes two consecutive columns I can support.
Imagine! Recommending true style Cabinet government. What a concept!