Justin Trudeau sworn-in as Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister
Ottawa: Justin Trudeau was sworn-in as Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister yesterday before a packed, flag-waving crowd, almost 50 years after his father took on the job.
The 43-year old former French teacher overcame campaign attack ads claiming he was ‘just not ready’ to win the October 19 election by a landslide, bringing an end to nine years of Tory rule under Stephen Harper.
With his dark mop of curly hair, a confident swagger and hints of his father’s speech, the younger Trudeau stood tall, smiled and mouthed ‘Thank you’ as applause erupted after he took the oath in the ballroom of the governor general’s mansion.
The new Liberal government also has pledged to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees by year’s end and to wind down Canada’s combat mission against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
“Canadians from all across this country sent a message that it is time for real change, and I am deeply honored by the faith they have placed in my team and me,” Trudeau said in a statement, adding that his Liberal government would hit the ground running.
Aboriginal throat singing capped off the event, attended by aboriginal and military leaders, former prime ministers and past governors-general, foreign envoys and other guests.
Trudeau himself and his cabinet pulled up soon afterward in a bus, rather than the limousines traditionally used to ferry government ministers around the capital, and then walked up a winding lane to the governor’s mansion.
