Roundup: Lots of tasks await incoming Canadian PM

The tasks awaiting Canada's incoming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his majority government are as significant in size as his Liberal Party's victory in the country's mid-October national election.

Trudeau, whose party defeated the ruling Conservatives by winning 184 out of 338 seats in the newly expanded Canadian House of Commons, will unveil his new cabinet on Wednesday morning. He made many promises during the 78-day election campaign, and some of those commitments are on a tight timeline.

One of the top to-do tasks involves bringing 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by year's end. However, refugee resettlement groups say the goal is unrealistic to achieve in less than two months, and the plan may have to be extended into next year.

Trudeau has also pledged to establish "a pan-Canadian" strategy to tackle climate change, 90 days after the United Nations Paris Climate Change Conference that will begin at the end of this month and which Trudeau said he would attend with Canadian federal opposition leaders and provincial premiers. His appearance in the French capital could soften international criticism against Canada following former Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to withdraw the country from the Kyoto climate-change accord.

Before Paris, Trudeau is expected to attend the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Turkey, where he is expected to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama. He will also attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) informal leaders' meeting in Manila and a meeting of Commonwealth leaders in Malta.

When his busy November travel schedule ends, Trudeau is expected to recall parliament as early as December to introduce a tax cut for middle-income earners, which he said during the election campaign would be his top priority.

Prior to the annual Christmas time recess, the new Liberal government could also address other pressing issues, such as Trudeau's pledge to end Canada's combat mission against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and amending the Conservatives' controversial anti-terror legislation that was criticized for expanding the reach of law-enforcement and security intelligence services at the expense of civil liberties.

The throne speech, which Canadian Governor General David Johnston will read to open the 42nd Parliament, will outline the Liberal government's intention for the next session, both in broad terms and in specifics.

Trudeau's list, so far, includes finding alternative stealth fighter jets to a fleet of 65 Lockheed Martin F-35s warplanes that the Conservative government put on hold following expensive delays and cost increases, introducing right-to-die legislation following a Supreme Court of Canada's decision earlier this year that legalized physician-assisted suicide for adult Canadians with a "grievous and irremediable medical condition" that causes "enduring" and "intolerable" suffering, as well as legalizing and regulating the use of marijuana.

At his first post-election news conference, Trudeau said he would have a smaller cabinet than Harper's, and one that has gender parity. According to the Toronto Star daily newspaper, the Liberal cabinet will have 28 members, evenly split with 14 women and 14 men, including Trudeau.

During his Oct. 19 election victory speech in Montreal, he also said he would be "the Prime Minister of all Canadians," and it appears he will hold to the spirit of that statement this week.

On Wednesday, Trudeau will be sworn in as Canada's 23rd Prime Minister and become the country's second-youngest person, at the age of 43, to hold that office.

The grounds of Rideau Hall, the Governor General's official residence, will for the first time be open to the public when Trudeau and his cabinet ministers are sworn into office on Wednesday. Endi