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OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT INSIDEHALTON.COM You don't need a crystal ball to know Justin Tru- deau's second term as prime minister will be more gru- elling than his first. Burdened by a minority instead of buoyed by a major- ity, he faces daunting environmental, economic and Indigenous-relations challenges at home in addition to the sobering uncertainty of a world order upended by an increasingly unreliable America and an ever-more as- sertive China. So many and varied are the problems, threats and troubles pressuring Trudeau, it may be difficult for him to know where to start in confronting them. But we have no hesitation in saying what should top his to-do list. It should be managing divisions - the ones deepening through the House of Commons as well as the ones weakening Canada. And, to achieve this, he should keep his promises to do more to fight climate change while expanding the Trans Mountain pipeline out west. These issues are all intertwined. No one can deny the nation is more seriously split on regional lines today than after Trudeau's 2015 election triumph and the "sunny ways" it briefly ushered in. Incensed by the roadblocks to getting their oil to market and the reality they're without a single MP re- presenting them in Ottawa, Albertans are suddenly musing, however impractically, about "Wexit." Mean- while, a less obstreperous Quebec has renewed its push for greater autonomy. Only by finding a way to make the 43rd Parliament function productively can Trudeau bring Canadians and Canada back together again. Working in his favour is the size of his minority government. With 157 MPs, the Liberals are just over a dozen votes short of a majority in the House of Commons. As the most centrist party in this polarized House, the Liberals share common ground with the New Demo- crats on the left and the Conservatives on the right. With some heartfelt goodwill, Trudeau should be able to garner the support he needs to create a stable, effective government for at least a year or two. Trudeau need not be lured into forming a coalition with the NDP or anyone else. And it was heartening to hear Trudeau reject this option at an Ottawa news con- ference last week. The Liberals should be able to govern on an issue-by- issue basis - without making costly and major conces- sions to another party. TRUDEAU MUST CROSS THE NATION'S DIVIDES Hello again. Did anyone miss me? I've been away. We've been away, my wife and I - gaining perspective, realizing we live in a para- dise. I've now driven in traffic in New Delhi, India - and survived. I am now at peace with Toronto traffic where only random drivers in- sanely zip line across your path, not everyone, honk- ing wildly with an oddly choreographed scattershot menagerie of pedestrians, wild dogs, goats, camels, horses and the odd ele- phant. I look around our Cana- dian city streets and now see clean and neat - ones I used to think needed more tending. My mind isn't shocked by a phantasma- goric swirl of plastic trash camouflaging every tree, hill and ditch. We spent days in Beijing and Shanghai searching the ochre skies for less ac- rid air to breath where cheap coal fuels a rampant grab for more money at all cost including the environ- ment, popping endless plastic bottles for drink- able water, remembering that back home we can - wait for it - drink out of the tap. We avoided the bath- rooms and the urge to snack on live scorpions on a stick and sidestepped smiling hustlers gravitat- ing toward us like magne- tized Styrofoam peanuts. We've been reminded in cities like Tokyo, Hiroshi- ma and Osaka that even though the sheer numbers of humans perambulating down every street is stag- gering, how humour, re- spect, culture and feeling safe can be mixed together to produce a wonderful sense of, "I want to go back there" - something I see re- flected in Canada, my home. A home we think is crowded but at any time you are the only person walking down the street. Our vast area is sparse. We've got room to manoeu- vre. I tell you we live in a par- adise here and at this mo- ment in time. It may even be a bubble of wonderful. We all need to get perspec- tive to appreciate it, safe- guard it. If you're only worried about a bit of clutter at home, get out of the house, go for a walk. Love your Canada. It'll bring a little therapy to your home. Stephen Ilott is a home organizer and author of The Domestic Archaeol- ogist. Visit www.declutter- ing.ca. PARADISE IS ALL ABOUT PERSPECTIVE OVERSEAS TRIP OFFERS NEW-FOUND APPRECIATION FOR HOME, WRITES ILOTT STEPHEN ILOTT Column SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM EDITORIAL