The Swearing-In Ceremony is underway at Rideau Hall, and Justin Trudeau is officially the Prime Minister of Canada. As the swearing-in of the cabinet continues, here are some facts on our new Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lawrence MacAulay, and Minister of International Trade, Chrystia Freeland.
Minister MacAulay | Minister Freeland |Other Notable Ministers | Ministers on Twitter | Related Stories
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lawrence MacAulay, is not new to federal politics. He has successfully run in eight federal elections, going back to 1988. His previous roles in government are vast, including Liberal Party Critic for Fisheries and Oceans’, Secretary of State for Veterans Affairs (1993), Secretary of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (1996), Minister of Labour (1997), Solicitor General of Canada (1998 and 2000), Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.
Official swearing in of #PEI MP @L_MacAulay into @JustinTrudeau cabinet as Minister of Agriculture & Agri-Food. pic.twitter.com/GqZFGms9qu
— Sally Pitt (@sallypittcbc) November 4, 2015
Before politics, Minister MacAulay worked as a seed potato producer and dairy farmer.
Minister of International Trade
The new Minister of International Trade (and therefore largely involved in negotiations and communications surrounding the Trans-Pacific Partnership) is Chrystia Freeland.
New minister of the TPP and other International Trade: @cafreeland #PM23 #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/TmESAMerMH
— Jeannie [email protected] (@JeannieLee88) November 4, 2015
Minister Freeland is the MP for the newly drawn University-Rosedale constituency in Toronto, Ontario. She has been a Member of Parliament since 2013, when she was appointed the Liberal Party Critic for International Trade.
A graduate of Harvard and Rhodes Scholar, Minister Freeland has extensive experience in media and communications. She has held positions at the Financial Times, was the deputy editor of The Globe and Mail, and editor-at-large of Thomson Reuters.
Minister Freeland has written two books (Sale of the Century: The Inside Story of the Second Russian Revolution (2000) and Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else (2012). Plutocrats, a New York Times best-seller, won both the National Business Book Award and the Lionel Gelber Prize in 2013) and spoke on economic inequality at TED in 2013. Her views were influential in developing Liberal policies under Trudeau.
She speaks Ukranian, English, Italian, Russian and French.
Other Notable Ministry Appointments
Marc Garneau was appointed Minister of Transport, a post that will involve implementing the recommendations from the current Canada Transportation Act Review and addressing concerns about grain handling in Western Canada.
Catherine McKenna was appointed Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Notable Ministers on Twitter
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – @JustinTrudeau
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food – @L_MacAulay
Minister of Employment Workforce Development and Labour – @MPMihychuk
Minister of Environment and Climate Change – @cathmckenna
Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard – @HunterTootoo
Minister of International Trade – @cafreeland
Minister of Transport – @MarcGarneau
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