Justin Trudeau’s cabinet is overwhelmingly right (handed, that is)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his 30 cabinet members were sworn in at Rideau Hall Wednesday morning, marking a shift back from the political right after nearly a decade of Conservative leadership under Stephen Harper.

As promised, Canada’s 23rd prime minister managed to achieve gender parity in his cabinet, with an equal number of women and men set to sit on the front benches, as well as at least one representative from each province and two of the territories.

IN PHOTOS: Justin Trudeau, Liberal cabinet sworn in at Rideau Hall

But while the new cabinet may not be right-wing, it’s overwhelmingly right-handed.

One by one, the new ministers picked up the pen to sign their papers, beginning with the head righty himself — Trudeau.

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All told there were 26 right-handed ministers (including the prime minister) while, by our count, just five were among Canada’s left-handed minority.

The southpaw representation includes Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs; Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport; Judy M. Foote, Minister of Public Services and Procurement; Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities; and Patricia A. Hajdu, Minister of Status of Women.

READ MORE: How Justice Minister Wilson-Raybould could change Canada-aboriginal relationship (no pressure)

But the representation of lefties is actually slightly higher than that of the general population. Estimates suggest about 10 to 12 per cent of people in the world are left-handed. Lefties make up 16 per cent of new cabinet members.

And when it comes to the left-handed women taking cabinet posts, they outnumbered their male counterparts 3-2, which is a little more than average; slightly more men are likely to be left-handed than women.

Trudeau follows a long line of right-handed PMs, including his father Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Not since Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Joe Clark, ousted by the elder Trudeau in 1980, has there been a left-handed leader.

READ MORE: Winners and losers: Who was shut out of Trudeau’s first cabinet?

All of Trudeau’s rivals in the 42 election — Harper, NDP leader Tom Mulcair, the Green Party’s Elizabeth May and Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppes — were righties as well. Trudeau’s Liberal predecessor Michael Ignatieff, on the other hand (no pun intended), wrote with the left.

Here’s the full list of lefties and righties in your new cabinet.

Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister) – right

Ralph Goodale (Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) – right

Lawrence MacAulay (Minister Agriculture and Agri-Food) – right

Stéphane Dion (Minister of Foreign Affairs) – right

John McCallum (Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship) – right

Carolyn Bennett (Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs) – left

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Scott Brison (President of the Treasury Board) – right

Dominic Leblanc (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons) – right

William Francis Morneau (Minister of Finance) – right

Jody Wilson-Raybould (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada) – right

Judy M. Foote (Minister of Public Services and Procurement) – left

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Chrystia Freeland (Minister of International Trade) – right

Jane Philipott (Minister of Health) – right

Jean-Yves Duclos (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development) – right

Marc Garneau (Minister of Transport) – left

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Marie-Claude Bibeau (Minister of International Development and La Francophonie) – right

James Gordon Carr (Minister of Natural Resources) – right

Mélanie Joly (Minister of Canadian Heritage) – right

Patricia A. Hajdu (Minister of Status of Women) – left

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Diane Lebouthillier (Minister of National Revenue) – right

Kent Hehr (Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence) – right

Navdeep Singh Bains (Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development) – right

Catherine McKenna (Minister of Environment and Climate Change) – right

Harjit Singh Sajjan (Minister of National Defence)- right

Mary Ann Mihychuk (Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour) – right

Amarjeet Sohi (Minister of Infrastructure and Communities) – left

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Maryam Monsef (Minister of Democratic Institutions) – right

Carla Qualtrough (Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities) – right

Hunter Tootoo (Mister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard) – right

Kirsty Duncan (Minister of Science) – right

Bardish Chagger (Minister of Small Business and Tourism) – right

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