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Justin Trudeau’s first cabinet shuffle has started a small debate over whether Maryam Monsef has been “demoted” in being moved from the Democratic Institutions ministry to Status of Women. I suppose either position in this argument is vaguely tenable. “Democratic Institutions” is just 13 years old as a cabinet position, and I do not know that any holder of the various versions of the title can claim a concrete legislative achievement. “Status of Women,” by contrast, was founded 45 years ago, and you will get in trouble for suggesting it is a relatively out-of-the-way cabinet position.

On the other hand, beat reporters of both sexes seem to quietly agree on the fact that it is out of the way, and it is bound to be a less prominent posting under a prime minister who continually reiterates a strong explicit duty to promote gender balance. (It is 2017, after all!)

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What I notice is that there IS a debate over Monsef’s demotion, or promotion, or rehoming, or whatever you want to call it. This is surely a sign of some shrewdness and subtlety in Trudeau’s handling of Monsef. Mere weeks ago, she was the political press’s favourite speedbag. Disappointing, semi-coherent press conferences culminated in the fiasco of Monsef, who has a degree in science, holding up a card with a “complex” equation on it and pretty much declaring that it was a fount of sinister Lovecraftian evil.