Memo to Liberal MPs: If you’re still waiting for Justin Trudeau to call and offer you a cabinet post, you can stop the wait.

That’s because Trudeau has already selected his new cabinet and made his last telephone calls to the lucky incoming ministers several days ago.

All of the ministers now know their new portfolio and all have been sworn to the utmost secrecy until Nov. 4 when Trudeau is formally sworn in as prime minister and unveils the full cabinet.

And despite all the post-election speculation about how difficult it would be for Trudeau to pick the cabinet from the “abundance of riches” that he was handed when the Liberals won a majority government and 184 seats in the Oct. 19 election, the job turned out to be surprisingly easy.

When Trudeau got down to work on the cabinet in the days immediately after the Liberals’ victory celebrations, he made his choices based on several key factors, according to Liberal insiders familiar with the selection process.

These factors include the size of the cabinet, gender equality, ethnic diversity, regional distribution and a balance of new and veteran MPs, but leaning to young and new versus old and experienced.

Some critics have suggested Trudeau is putting gender and regional concerns ahead of talent as the top priority in selecting the ministers.

In reality, though, any cabinet, regardless of whether it is Liberal or Conservative, “is never a pure and simple meritocracy,” says a key Trudeau adviser. “Obviously there are expectations if you are elected, such as every province gets a cabinet minister, and you look at regional balance, gender, and diversity as well as competence.”

On size, the new cabinet is expected to have 28 members. Trudeau wanted to keep the number below 30 to show he intended to run a leaner, more efficient cabinet team than did Stephen Harper. The last Conservative cabinet had 39 ministers, including 26 senior ministers and 12 junior ministers of state for such areas as sports, seniors and multiculturalism.

On gender, the new cabinet will be evenly split, with 14 women and 14 men, including Trudeau. A total of 50 Liberal women were elected on Oct. 19.

On diversity, there will be two aboriginal members, a groundbreaking number for a federal cabinet. The new ministers are expected to be Hunter TooToo, 52, a businessman and former Nunavut territorial legislator, and Jody-Wilson Raybould, a lawyer and former Assembly of First Nations B.C. regional chief. Also, there will be one Sikh minister, most likely Navdeep Bains, a Mississauga MP who played a key role in Trudeau’s leadership bid in 2013.

On regional balance, the new cabinet is expected to have 10 members from Ontario, six from Quebec (including Melanie Joly from Montreal), five from Atlantic Canada (including Dominic LeBlanc from N.B. and Judy Foote from N.L.), three from B.C. and one each from Manitoba (likely Jim Carr, a Winnipeg businessman and former provincial Liberal deputy leader), Alberta and Saskatchewan and one representing the three northern territories.

In Ontario, there likely will be five or six ministers from Toronto and the surrounding 905 area, one from the Ottawa area, and one each from southwestern Ontario, northern Ontario and eastern Ontario.

Among the key portfolios, Trudeau opted for a blend of old and new faces.

Ralph Goodale, a veteran Saskatchewan MP and former cabinet minister, is expected to be announced as deputy prime minister and House leader.

Scott Brison is expected to become finance minister. Brison is a Nova Scotia MP and former cabinet minister who was the Liberal finance critic in the last parliament and is the party’s main spokesman on economic issues. Bill Morneau, the businessman elected in Toronto Centre who will also be in cabinet, had been cited as a possible finance minister. However, the job demands someone with parliamentary experience, which Morneau lacks.

Stéphane Dion, the former Liberal party leader, is expected be named environment minister. Dion was a well-respected environment minister in the Paul Martin government and his expertise is seen as critical in this portfolio. Trudeau’s first big international test will come at the United Nations climate change conference in Paris, which runs from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11 and it will help greatly to have Dion at his side.

Chrystia Freeland (Toronto University-Rosedale) could be revealed as foreign affairs or international trade minister. Marc Garneau, the former astronaut and Montreal-area MP, is also being touted as foreign affairs minister.

There will also be surprise absences from the cabinet list, including possibly well-known Toronto area MPs Adam Vaughan (Spadina-Fort York), who may be given a non-cabinet role related to affordable housing; former defence minister John McCallum (Markham-Thornhill); former cabinet minister Carolyn Bennett (Toronto-St. Paul’s); and Mark Holland (Ajax), who was a key organizer of Trudeau’s 2013 leadership campaign.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

They all fall victim to the cabinet-selection numbers reality.

While they will be disappointed, “at no time were any candidates ever promised a cabinet post,” the insider said. “That’s a very slippery slope that can lead to real trouble down the road.”

Bob Hepburn’s column appears Sundays. bhepburn@thestar.ca

Read more about: