i don't know how you skip carolyn bennett & stephane dion - and those are just the most obvious ones.

he's got tons of experience on the benches, and i think you should expect him to rely on it rather than dump a bunch of inexperienced people in. the proper relationship is to put the experienced ministers in now and let the younger mps take secondary roles, to learn portfolios under tutelage. you know: earning your way up. appointments on merit, not ethnicity. that's how the liberals have always functioned, because they've always had the benefit of being able to orchestrate an orderly generational transition. the martin purge hurt that a little, but not enough to dismantle it.

there's no deficit of qualified female candidates, either. he's got plenty to work with. he doesn't need an affirmative action program. i mean, i'd question the logic if he did - but he doesn't.

the truth is that trudeau knows he's going to have to rely on his elders quite a bit himself, for the next couple of years. the bennetts, dions, goodales, mccallums and whatnot are going to be key for the next couple of years. and, that shouldn't be a secret to the ottawa citizen.

ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/cabinet-making-whos-on-trudeaus-shortlist

Don Betton
Based on your arguement if the women have the experince and skils they will get selcted without a quota to maybe more than 50% of the Cabinet. However setting a quota is unacceptable. You are now justifying discrimination based on sex....try to think of the situation reversed. A comparable situation would be promoting 50% men if there were 75% women in a workplace......would you accept such an approach in reverse???

Jessica Amber Murray

yes, actually.

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my comment disappeared fast. lol.

it's the liberal party, lee. it's not the diversity committee at the occupy encampment. the gender thing is legit, and there shouldn't be a serious debate about it. but, they don't appoint you to cabinet for being italian. they tell you to get in line and work your way to the top.