And so begins the scorecard for Justin Trudeau and the Liberals as they make ready to take the helm of the federal government after claiming a majority in the recent federal election.
After a decade of Conservative rule there was an obvious desire for change in the recent election, a desire which resulted in the somewhat unexpected majority.
To Trudeau’s credit he appears to be moving forward on a number of fronts.
While his announcement of a cabinet unveiling for Nov. 4, is to be expected, moves on some other fronts within days of the election are more surprising.
An example is Trudeau’s expected move forward on a promise to legalize marijuana. On Oct. 1, in the midst of the election campaign the Liberal leader pledged to work on pot legislation ‘right away’ if elected.
One report suggests if recreational marijuana becomes legal, the potential customer base would be in the millions and create a market worth up to $5 billion. The federal government would rake a healthy tax dollar off such sales, going a long way to financing other programming promised by the Liberals.
That said, the process of legalization is going to meet its fair share of opposition, in Parliament and out. It will not be a smooth process to be sure, although it is one overdue.
It is likely Trudeau will want to push on this sooner than later. It would give the electorate time to accept the change prior to the next election in four years, and it would again be a major new funding source.
There are suggestions the Liberals could take the bold step as early as the first quarter of 2016, and that shows some definite moxie from Trudeau.
Not all moves emerging in the wake of the election are forward thinking however.
Canada Post is suspending the conversion of door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes.
In a news release issued late Monday, Canada Post said the corporation will work with the government of Canada to determine the best path forward given the challenges in the postal system.
Door-to-door delivery was always a matter of one’s address. It was far from a universal system, even with a small city such as Yorkton.
To stop the conversion to corner mailboxes mid-stream is a step back toward an unequal system.
And so it begins for Trudeau, the dance of politics, some steps being positive, others quite the opposite, the view on which is which varying from voter to voter. Voters can only hope during the mandate he makes more progressive steps than regressive ones.
