(L)President-elect Donald Trump waves as he arrives at Trump International Golf Club for a day of meetings, November 20, 2016 in Bedminster Township, New Jersey. Trump and his transition team are in the process of filling cabinet and other high level positions for the new administration. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (R) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waves to supporters at the 2016 Liberal Biennial Convention Winnipeg Saturday, May 28, 2016. (Photograph by John Woods)
“Because it’s 2015” is so 2015. (And so Canadian, it seems.) With the inauguration of President Donald Trump mere days away, a noticeable trend has emerged in his picks for the most important cabinet positions in the new administration: they’re overwhelmingly white, old, and male, not to mention really, really rich.
Of the 19 cabinet level nominations Trump has announced so far, only five are either women or visible minorities. In other words, three-quarters are white men. That stands in stark contrast to the cabinet Trudeau has assembled (both pre- and post-shuffle). But age, gender and ethnicity is only one way members of the two cabinets differ. To highlight that, Maclean’s took a deeper look into the policy positions and backgrounds of top members of each country’s cabinet. We included an icebreaker for if and when the cabinet members meet their counterpart in the other country.
MORE: What you need to know about Trump’s inauguration
| Name | Chrystia Freeland, foreign affairs | Rex Tillerson, secretary of state |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 48 | 64 |
| Previous job | Journalism | CEO of ExxonMobil |
| Years of political experience | 4 | 0 (worked at Exxon since 1975) |
| Speaks Russian | Yes | No |
| Relationship to Vladimir Putin | Putin banned her from entering Russia | Putin awarded him Russia's 'Order of Friendship' |
| Stance on free trade | Brokered CETA deal with Europe | Does not oppose TPP (unlike Trump) |
| Big task ahead | Save NAFTA | Decide on lifting Russian sanctions |
| Icebreaker | She wrote the book on Plutocrats | His net worth is US$385 million |
| Catherine McKenna, environment minister | Scott Pruitt, EPA administrator | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 45 | 48 |
| Previous job | Lawyer | Attorney general of Oklahoma |
| Years of political experience | 2 | 14 |
| On climate change | 'Everyone knows we need to take action and we need to take action now' | 'The debate about climate change is truly that. It's debate' |
| Coal | Announced planned phase-out by 2030 | Called Obama's clean power plan a 'war on coal' |
| Big task ahead | Implement national carbon pricing plan | Dismantle federal environmental regulations |
| Icebreaker | Last name is McKenna | He has a daughter named McKenna |
| Harjit Sajjan, minister of national defence | James 'Mad Dog' Mattis, defense secretary | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 46 | 66 |
| Previous job | Vancouver police gang squad investigator | Marine Corps four-star general (retired) |
| Years of political experience | 2 | 0 |
| Deployments | Afghanistan (3 times); Bosnia | Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Iraq |
| On war | 'People think that 'badass' is about fighting, but we also got the population that was serving the Taliban to come back to our side. We got them off the battlefield.' | 'You know, it's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right upfront with you, I like brawling.' |
| Big task ahead | Defence policy review, continue the fight against ISIS | Continue fight against ISIS; contend with Russia, the 'principal threat' to U.S. security |
| Icebreaker | Received Order of Military Merit for efforts in Kandahar | Commanded the first Marine force to enter Afghanistan after 9/11 |
| Bill Morneau, finance minister | Steven Mnuchin, treasury secretary | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 54 | 54 |
| Previous job | Executive chair of HR firm Morneau Sheppell | Goldman Sachs partner-turned-movie financier, including the films American Sniper, Our Brand is Crisis, Inherent Vice and Rules Don't Apply |
| Years of political experience | 2 | 0 |
| Housing crash | Trying to prevent one in Canada | Made millions off the U.S. crash by buying a failed mortgage lender and foreclosing on homeowners |
| Big task ahead | Prove that big deficit infrastructure spending will grow the economy | The largest overhaul of the U.S. tax system since Ronald Reagan |
| Icebreaker | Co-wrote 'The Real Retirement' about how Canadians are better off than they think | Executive producer for movie 'The Intern' about a 70-year-old widower bored in retirement |
| Jody Wilson-Raybould, justice minister | Jeff Sessions, attorney general | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 45 | 70 |
| Previous job | Crown prosecutor-turned-regional chief of B.C. Assembly of First Nations | Senator for Alabama |
| Years of political experience | 7 | 22 |
| On Marijuana | 'We are proceeding in a concerted way in respect to marijuana in terms of legalization and regulation and working with other jurisdictions to approach this in a thoughtful way' | 'We need grown-ups in charge in Washington to say marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized.' |
| LGBTQ | Introduced legislation to guarantee legal and human rights protection to transgender people | Voted against legislation that would prohibit employers from firing employees because of the sexual orientation or gender identity. |
| Big task ahead | Review of federal laws and policies that impact the rights of Indigenous peoples | From immigration to crime to civil rights, back up Trump's pledge to be the 'law and order' president |
| Icebreaker | Um, they're both... | Lawyers? |
| Jane Philpott, health minister | Tom Price, health secretary | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 56 | 62 |
| Previous job | Physician | Congressman from Georgia |
| Years of political experience | 2 | 20 |
| On women's rights | 'Our government firmly supports a woman's right to choose, and believes that safe and legal abortions should be available to any woman who needs it.' | 'Bring me one woman who has been left behind [by not being able to afford contraception]. Bring me one. There's not one.' |
| On HIV/AIDS | Founder of 'Give a Day to World AIDS' | Member of fringe medical organization that questions link between HIV and AIDS |
| Big task ahead | Tackle national opioid crisis | Replace Obamacare |
| Icebreaker | Father was a Presbyterian minister | He's Presbyterian |
Here’s another powerful (if admittedly visually disturbing) way to look at the vast difference between Team Trump and Team Trudeau, combining the four faces of what are arguably the highest-profile cabinet roles in each country.
