What has Canada’s PM done since taking office?
By Aaron Guillen, Staff Reporter
Around two and a half months ago, Justin Trudeau prevailed as the next Prime Minister of Canada, riding on his Liberal platform promising “real change.” But has the new PM in town carried through with the promises that won him the election? Since October, more than 60 days have passed with Trudeau in office—and as the new year has arrived, it’s time to take a brief look at the long list of to-do’s that were assured to the people of Canada.
It’s clearly evident that Canadians want change as TrudeauMetre.ca, a non-partisan collaborative citizen initiative that tracks Trudeau’s fulfillment of his electoral platform, is updated daily. The website outlines what promises have been achieved, are still in progress, have yet to be started, or have been broken. Among the claimed 196 commitments on the list, there are currently 12 in progress, 6 achieved, 1 broken, and the remaining 177 still left to be started.
Taking a closer look at the promises in progress, there are issues such as the legalization of marijuana, climate change, and various social issues. In regard to legalizing marijuana, Trudeau and his government have been working on amending the key points in the Criminal Code that cover consumption and possession alongside a new approach to the system of sales and distribution.
When it comes to climate change, Trudeau made specific vows on behalf of Canada in the Paris Conference, COP21. Additionally, the nation is waiting for the outcome of the Northern Gateway Pipeline, as the PM requested crude oil tanker traffic on BC’s North Coast to come to a standstill.
Recently, the Liberal government began a pre-inquiry into the case of missing and murdered Aboriginal women, a controversial, yet pressing issue.
“Within a couple of weeks, we’ll have to be able to launch what we think is the best possible process for a pre-inquiry engagement,” said Carol Bennett, the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, to Global News.
With a price tag of $40 million on the examination, many are hopeful for a successful outcome.
Meanwhile, Trudeau has been able to cover ground on promises pertaining to taxes, government, and military. With taxes, Trudeau has lowered the middle income tax bracket to 20.5 per cent, down by 1.5 per cent. Additionally, a tax bracket with a rate of 33 per cent was installed for those earning upwards of $200,000. Back in November, many constraints set on government scientists were removed, thus giving them the ability to talk about their valuable research more openly Also, a gender-equitous Cabinet was appointed—another widely talked-about promise fulfilled.
In regards to military promises, “Operation UNIFIER is Canada’s contribution to support Ukrainian forces through capacity building and providing similar training assistance,” according to the Government of Canada’s website.
“Military assistance is one component of Canada’s support to Ukraine across development, security, democracy, and humanitarian aid.”
Unfortunately, though Trudeau has made promises and fulfilled them, he has broken one so far, his vow to bring in 25,000 refugees by the end of 2015. By early November, it was realized that those numbers couldn’t be crunched, so the Liberal party lowered their goal to 10,000. As 2016 has arrived, around 6,300 Syrian refugees have arrived on Canadian soil, falling short of the Liberal party’s promise.
