There were far fewer hugs than in 2015.
The 23rd prime minister was a hugger — possibly the huggiest in Canadian history. The 24th prefers a firm handshake, with his left hand on the other person’s elbow. Each of Mark Carney’s 23 ministers received some version of that greeting after they had sworn their oaths.
Carney is very apparently a different sort of person. In the limited space of his first day as prime minister — and with an election maybe just more than a week away — he could at least try to signal change.
“Canada’s new government is changing how we work so we can deliver better results faster to all Canadians,” Carney said. “We have new ministers with new ideas ready to respond to new threats and to seize new opportunities.”
There was no parade down the driveway of Rideau Hall and there were merely two dozen ministers to swear in — seven fewer than …