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Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau walks to a news conference from Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on October 20, 2015.The Canadian Press

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POLITICS NOTEBOOK

By Jane Taber (@JaneTaber1)

When Justin Trudeau is sworn in at Rideau Hall on Wednesday morning, he will become one of eight current and former living prime ministers. Never before have there been so many former prime ministers alive at one time.

They are a mixture of Conservative, Liberal and Progressive Conservatives, Joe Clark, 76, led the country briefly from 1979 to 1980. John Turner, 86, was a Liberal prime minister in 1984. Brian Mulroney, 76, was the successful Progressive Conservative PM who brought in free trade during his stint from 1984 to 1993. Kim Campbell, 68, followed Mr. Mulroney as the first and only female prime minister in 1993. Liberal Jean Chrétien, 81, was in office from 1993 to 2003, followed by Paul Martin, 77, who was defeated in 2006 by Stephen Harper. Mr. Harper, 56, lost his government last month.

In the United States right now, Barack Obama is one of five current and living U.S. presidents. Americans use their former presidents well; they are not forgotten and their expertise and experience is put to good use.

For example, when he was in office, President George W. Bush asked two former presidents, his father, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, to lead the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. It raised $130-million to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In 2010, President Obama called on former presidents Mr. Clinton and George W. Bush, creating the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund to raise money to aid with job creation and other relief after the earthquake there.

On election night last month, Mr. Trudeau began his speech this way: "Sunny ways my friends, sunny ways. This is what positive politics can do." It was an homage to another prime minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who was credited with bringing people together through the art of practising positive politics. And Mr. Trudeau's reference was also directed at the negative wedge politics that the Conservatives and Mr. Harper used during the recent election, especially on the issue of niqabs.

Canadians, however, have so far only seen a glimpse of what Mr. Trudeau has in mind in terms of how he will move his agenda of positive politics forward. He has invited NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May to the United Nations climate change summit in Paris later this month.

But here's a suggestion to further his agenda of inclusiveness: Why not start his mandate with a bold gesture of co-operation by inviting all seven former prime ministers to attend his Speech from the Throne? And then, why not call on all of them to play a role like their American counterparts?

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS MORNING

By Chris Hannay (@channay)

> Justin Trudeau has already selected his cabinet - smaller and more diverse in ethnicity and gender - before the swearing-in on Wednesday.

> Mr. Trudeau will appoint senators in a new way similar to how lieutenant-governors are chosen, sources tell The Globe's John Ibbitson.

> Former senator Roméo Dallaire says Ottawa must end its penny-pinching with veterans.

> The Canadian Cancer Society is celebrating a promise by the newly elected Liberal government to force tobacco companies to sell cigarettes in plain packages.

> Conservative MPs Michelle Rempel and Denis Lebel are pitching themselves as interim co-leaders of the party.

> Real change? Justin Trudeau's election slogan gets a first test when he puts faces on it in the form of cabinet ministers.

HIGH-SPEED RAIL BELONGS IN INFRASTRUCTURE DISCUSSION

If the Liberal government is serious about kick-starting sluggish economic growth with new infrastructure spending, high-speed rail in Canada's busiest travel corridor offers some tantalizing benefits, Barrie McKenna writes. High-speed rail would address a number of chronic challenges facing the country, including the weak economy, a poor record on innovation and rising greenhouse gas emissions."

WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT

"Winning a majority mandate and seats in every region is not without challenges. The prime-minister-designate will soon have hungry puppies at his door but little institutional capacity to deal with their demands." – Donald Savoie on the fiscal challenges facing the Liberals.

Lindsay Tedds (Globe and Mail): "To escape normative debates, we need to consider the evidence. What evidence do we have regarding high-income tax rates?"

Gary Mason (Globe and Mail): "According to federal Liberal sources, as many as a dozen political aides (and possibly more) currently working in the Clark government could be heading off to greener (or whiter come January) pastures in Ottawa."

Mark Cameron (Globe and Mail): "Setting impressive [emission] targets and failing to meet them has become an unfortunate Canadian tradition. As Mr. Trudeau himself has said, 'What we need is not ambitious political targets. What we need is an ambitious plan to reduce our emissions in the country.' "

Mark Kingwell (Globe and Mail): "The official NDP sold its soul for what Marshall McLuhan liked to call 'a pot of message.' Alas, courting the centre doesn't work in this country unless you set up a big tent and put a handsome, articulate barker at its entrance."

This newsletter is produced by Chris Hannay and Steve Proceviat.


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