Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declared that “B.C. is in my blood.” That is literally true, as his mother was British Columbia born and bred Margaret Sinclair.

But Trudeau’s B.C. roots also reach back to his grandfather, James Sinclair, who was a Rhodes scholar and senior Liberal cabinet minister in the Louis St-Laurent government of the 1950s. Some suggest that Justin is more like his grandfather than his father.

The younger Trudeau, now 43 years old, earned his education degree at the University of British Columbia, then taught high school on the West Coast. And now that Trudeau is starting out as our 23rd prime minister, he may well need the kind of loyalty that family connections breed, for he faces several political challenges related to the West Coast.

Fortunately for him, the election delivered 17 B.C. Liberal MPs to Ottawa – the highest number since 1974. Two are rookies, but with impressive credentials, who were handed senior cabinet positions: Jody Wilson-Raybould (justice minister and attorney-general) and Harjit Sajjan (minster of national defence).

Wilson-Raybould, (Vancouver Granville), 44 years old, becomes the first indigenous person to serve as justice minister and as such the former Crown prosecutor will face some challenging issues, such as assisting with the promised Liberal inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous women. She’ll also play a significant role in the Liberal-led legalization of marijuana and must quickly prepare a legislative response to the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling on assisted suicide. People who know Wilson-Raybould, formerly regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, say she’s certainly up to these challenges.

Sajjan (Vancouver South), also 44, is a decorated soldier with one tour in Bosnia and three tours in Afghanistan under his belt. He was the first Canadian Sikh to command an army regiment and he specialized in intelligence while in Afghanistan.

Sajjan also served as a detective with the Vancouver Police Department and no doubt will be key in cabinet when the new government wrestles with difficult issues such as buying new fighter jets or deploying our troops internationally.

Trudeau’s government, meanwhile, will be challenged in negotiating a new Canada-U.S. Softwood Lumber Agreement, an issue that is so critical to B.C.’s economy.

And now that U.S. President Barack Obama has killed the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have shipped Alberta crude to export markets via the Gulf of Mexico, pressures will only increase for more Canadian pipeline construction to tidewater terminals and increased export oil shipments via rail. While Trudeau backed B.C.’s proposed liquefied natural gas export projects during the 2015 election campaign, he has been asked formally by northern First Nations to stop the largest of these projects for environmental reasons.

Other major B.C. issues, such as very high housing costs and needed major transit upgrades in Metro Vancouver, also will put our new PM and his cabinet to the test.

Welcome back to B.C., Justin.

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