
There’s no one way to be a Canadian: Culture Minister Steven Guilbeault
OTTAWA — Steven Guilbeault, federal minister of identity and culture, came to his new job just as the whole country was looking at itself in the mirror.
Guilbeault took on the new ministry — which replaces the old heritage ministry and takes up responsibility for Parks Canada — as U.S. President Donald Trump was ramping up a ruinous trade war and talking about annexing his country’s neighbour to the north.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Guilbeault said most Canadians probably hadn’t reflected much on their own national identity before Washington changed its tone.
Their reaction — ten years after Guilbeault’s old boss, Justin Trudeau, described Canada as a “post-national state” — has been a surge in national pride that culminates today in Canada Day celebrations across the country.