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Strong performers rewarded in cabinet

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Cabinet shuffles serve myriad purposes: to react to dramatic changes in the economy or in world affairs; to reset the clock on files that aren't going well; to rebalance regional representation; to deal with scandal, if it exists; and of course, to distract people from other problems.

Justin Trudeau's first major cabinet shakeup Tuesday sends signals in each area.

First, he is (sensibly) worried about president-elect Donald Trump's global impact and, specifically, about trade with the United States. To grapple with this, strong performer Chrystia Freeland becomes foreign minister. She's a welcome replacement for Stéphane Dion, who would be unlikely to impress Team Trump, given Dion's explicitly liberal views of foreign policy, and his stumbles on touchy files such as arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

Strong performer Patricia Hadju gets the employment portfolio as not-so-strong minister MaryAnn Mihychuk is tossed.

Quebec MP François-Philippe Champagne has already put in solid innings as parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance, and thus becomes minister of international trade. Toronto MP Ahmed Hussen, a Somali-born rising political star, goes to immigration; fellow rookie Karina Gould of Burlington enters cabinet as minister for democratic institutions.

Gould is seen as a solution to the Maryam Monsef dilemma. Whether on her own or under direction from the PMO, Monsef flailed on electoral reform. Trudeau badly needs a do-over here; a fresh face may signal a fresh attitude. Monsef bounces to what has traditionally been seen as a junior role, status of women, but which this feminist government has said is an important portfolio. For her, it's a second chance.

John McCallum leaves cabinet, becoming ambassador to China. Trudeau isn't solving a cabinet problem here: he is solving a diplomatic one, placing a trusted, experienced hand in an ambassadorship that, after Washington, is the prime minister's top foreign priority. McCallum was a reliable point man on Syrian refugees; naming him to the China post gives the prime minister a smart loyalist (with previous cabinet posts under his belt) in Beijing.

As pundits parse these appointments, Trudeau has bought time to deal with the first significant scandal to hit his government since the 2015 election: cash-for-­access fundraising events. He'll need better answers on this by the time the House of Commons comes back late in the month.

For now, however, his government can boast of fresh faces, strong players and new global challenges.

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