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> I want someone well-versed in science to head the EPA and the like. Similarly, I want someone with teaching experience (and confidence in bettering public edu

> I want someone well-versed in science to head the EPA and the like. Similarly, I want someone with teaching experience (and confidence in bettering public education) to head education. And so on. Canada's Cabinet [1] is diverse and the positions are individuals representative of those fields. Quoting from the article: > The defence minister, Harjit Sajjan, a decorated lieutenant-colonel in the Canadian armed forces, was the first Sikh Canadian to command an army regiment > appointing two Aboriginal politicians to cabinet, along with indigenous affairs minister, Carolyn Bennett > The veterans affairs minister, Kent Hehr, has also overcome adversity to get to his current role. A one-time hockey player, he was struck in the neck by a bullet in a drive-by shooting, and rendered paraplegic in his early 20s. He went on to become a lawyer and an advocate for the disabled before jumping into provincial, and now federal politics. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/05/canada-diverse-cabinet-includes-astronaut-badass-colonel https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/05/canada-diverse...

Broken_Hippo 10y ago
I have respect for Trudeau, in part because of this.
dingaling 10y ago
> Canada's Cabinet [1] is diverse and the positions are individuals representative of those fields. I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing. Secretaries of State are supposed to be advisers to the {elected|appointed|self-selected} leader of the Government. If they already have some personal 'skin in the game' then that may influence the advice they give, rather than listening to their experts and selecting the options that are best for the country. For example a Lt Col certainly knows how a regiment of 5000 men works, but why should that qualify him to advise a Prime Minister on, say, the strategic implications of nuclear deterrence? He's going to have to go and ask the experts first. In that example it might actually be better to appoint him to a totally different department, so one still benefits from his management skills but he in turn has to start from a blank slate without preconceptions.

Broken_Hippo 10y ago

I have respect for Trudeau, in part because of this.

dingaling 10y ago

> Canada's Cabinet [1] is diverse and the positions are individuals representative of those fields. I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing. Secretaries of State are supposed to be advisers to the {elected|appointed|self-selected} leader of the Government. If they already have some personal 'skin in the game' then that may influence the advice they give, rather than listening to their experts and selecting the options that are best for the country. For example a Lt Col certainly knows how a regiment of 5000 men works, but why should that qualify him to advise a Prime Minister on, say, the strategic implications of nuclear deterrence? He's going to have to go and ask the experts first. In that example it might actually be better to appoint him to a totally different department, so one still benefits from his management skills but he in turn has to start from a blank slate without preconceptions.