Burlington MP Karina Gould says her new role in the House of Commons is an incredible show of confidence from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
During this week’s cabinet shuffle, Gould moved from minister of families, children and social development to House leader, where she’ll handle the coordination of the government's day-to-day business and manage the legislative agenda.
A graduate of M.M. Robinson Secondary School, McGill University and Oxford University (where she got her Master’s degree in international relations), she said she has to pinch herself “almost every day” that she’s in such an important position, working with the Prime Minister of the country. The House leader is a senior cabinet minister, navigating the Canadian government’s business.
“It’s important to keep your feet on the ground,” she said, adding that it was the privilege of a lifetime to serve in her former role. “This is a job about the people. It’s incredible. There’s no other job like it, with an impact on the day-to-day lives of people.
“I was quite surprised that the PM had asked me to take on this position,” she added. “This is a very important one within the cabinet and the agenda, particularly in a minority government, and working with the opposition parties.”
She said she learned about the new role just before the ceremony.
“I got a call to come to Ottawa and found out just ahead of time that this was going to be my role,” she said, adding she’s “honoured the PM has confidence in me."
“This is a totally different role, but an interesting new challenge. I think I’ll have a lot of fun with it,” Gould said. “I’m excited about it; it’s a big job, a big responsibility. I think I bring a collegial, collaborative tone that will set us on the right track.”
Her job now is to make sure conditions are right for bills – proposed laws – and other business moves through the House, which requires a lot of work with opposition parties. It’s imperative to ensure the legislation is ready, before it's introduced and passed. She’s also responsible for managing Question Period, making sure that ministers are responding well to questions.
This week, she spoke to all three of the opposition House leaders: PC Andrew Scheer, Bloc Quebecois Alain Therrien and NDP Peter Julian.
“The conversation was to say hi and say that I’m looking forward to working with them,” she said.
Next on the agenda is the Trudeau cabinet retreat in PEI in late August before the House sits next on Sept. 18.
“There’s a lot of work to do in the fall,” she added.
Meanwhile, she continues constituency work in Burlington and is preparing for the fall agenda.
Gould was first elected as an MP in 2015. She was appointed to Cabinet in 2017 as minister of democratic institutions, and moved to minister of international development in 2019.
When Gould first became a minister, she was the youngest woman in Canadian history to serve in cabinet.
The 36-year-old is also expecting a new family member. She has a five-year-old son; earlier in the week she posted a photo of herself on social media, reading Canada’s Pregnancy Care Book to announce that she’s expecting a child in January. She said she’s feeling great at 15 weeks, despite finding June to be a tiresome month.