Trudeau makes public his ministerial mandate letters - their marching orders for four years

The release is a first for Ottawa and will help Canadians “hold us accountable,” the PM says of what appears to be a checklist of former campaign promises now enshrined as policy objectives.

Thestar.com
Nov. 13, 2015
By Tonda MacCharles, Joanna Smith and Alex Boutilier

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released his marching orders to his ministers Friday, saying the unprecedented move is “so Canadians can hold us accountable to deliver on our commitments.”

The letters outline an overarching approach to government for the next four years that is to be heavily focused on consultation and partnerships with aboriginal people, provinces and territories, parliamentarians, public servants and engagement with the public through media.

Called ministerial mandate letters, they detail policy objectives that were campaign promises, some of which continue to lack detail, all of which must be addressed within the ambitious framework of balancing the federal budget by 2019-20.

Trudeau tells his ministers they are to introduce the middle-class tax cut that was the showpiece of his platform, spend billions on public and “green” infrastructure, end the military mission in Iraq and Syria, admit 25,000 Syrian refugees “in the coming months,” restore temporary health benefits for refugees, create parliamentary oversight of national security agencies, toughen illegal gun controls, tackle climate change, legalize and regulate marijuana, set up an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women, and develop a legislative response to the Supreme Court ruling on assisted suicide.

As Trudeau embarked Friday on his first foreign trip as prime minister, his mandate letters set out a clear direction for his Liberal foreign policy, with the priority to re-set the Canada-U.S. relationship and re-engage with multilateral international organizations, particularly the United Nations with a boosted contribution to UN peacekeeping missions.

Some of it involves rolling back Conservative measures such as last spring’s hastily passed Balanced Budget Act, reinstating the mandatory long-form census as announced last week, and reinstating the Court Challenges Program to fund constitutional litigation by disadvantaged groups, killed in 2006.

There are some interestingly specific directions: judges appointed to the Supreme Court “should be functionally bilingual.”

Much of it is about striking a different tone, one that stresses openness, transparency and accountability. Cabinet committees and individual ministers are to “track and report on the progress” of commitments, and to place a priority on improving the relationship with indigenous peoples. All ministers are expected to make “merit-based appointments” that ensure gender parity and diversity are reflected in “positions of leadership.”

Overall, Trudeau says their mandate letters are not exhaustive. The government’s agenda will be “further articulated” in the Dec. 4 Throne Speech.

All 30 “mandate letters” were publicly posted on the prime minister’s website as part of Trudeau’s promised “plan for open and transparent government for Canadians.”

It is a first for the federal government, and included a signal that the ministers will be held to a higher ethical standard, with the caution that “the arrangement of your private affairs should bear the closest public scrutiny. This is an obligation that is not fully discharged by simply acting within the law.” Trudeau said the government has “expanded or strengthened” rules, including guidance on non-partisan use of departmental communications resources and the new code of conduct for exempt staff.

• Some of the most significant changes fall to 30-year old political rookie Maryam Monsef, now responsible for reforming how Senate appointments are made, striking a special parliamentary committee to lead electoral reform efforts, and repealing parts of the previous Conservative administration’s controversial Fair Elections Act.

“As minister of democratic institutions, your overarching goal will be to strengthen the openness and fairness of Canada’s public institutions,” the letter reads. “You will lead on electoral and Senate reform to restore Canadians’ trust and participation in our democratic process.”

• Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna is charged with leading national efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but Trudeau made no mention of a clear target at the national level, but told her to lead in putting a “price” on carbon.

Trudeau instructs his justice and aboriginal affairs ministers to develop the approach to be taken in a promised inquiry into the deaths of missing and murdered aboriginal women, and to address the overpopulation of aboriginal people in the criminal justice and prison systems.

• Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale is charged with creating a parliamentary committee that will for the first time have access to classified information to review government departments and agencies with national security responsibilities. He will repeal the “problematic elements” of Bill C-51, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2015. Both were key promises of the Liberals during the election. But there are no specific details about which aspects of the controversial bill will be eliminated.

Goodale must come up with a “co-ordinated national action plan on post-traumatic stress disorder, which disproportionately affects public safety officers,” and take action to ensure “the RCMP and all other parts of your portfolio are workplaces free from harassment and sexual violence.”

• That same order - to rid the workplace of harassment and discrimination - is issued to Liberal House leader Dominic LeBlanc who must improve conditions in Parliament and to National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, a Sikh whose own appointment was met by a racist comment within the armed services.

Sajjan is tasked with ending Canada’s combat mission in Iraq and Syria, with no timeline assigned. He must also replace Canada’s aging F-18 fighter jets, but his mandate makes no mention of the keeping the expensive stealth fighter F-35 off the contenders list.

Leblanc has been tasked with making the House of Commons more accountable, including reforming parliamentary committees, ensuring agents of Parliament are sufficiently funded and independent, and banning the misuse of omnibus legislation, a frequent source of criticism of the previous Conservative government.

Trudeau suggested the federal government will play a more active role in health care than did the previous Conservative government, which had favoured a more hands-off approach that let provinces decide how to spend federal transfers.

• Trudeau puts Health Minister Jane Philpott in charge of negotiating a new “multi-year Health Accord” with the provinces and territories that “should include a long-term funding agreement” and “should” address better home care services, including in-home caregivers, financial support for family care and palliative care.
• The letter states National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier’s goal is to end what critics have called politically motivated audits of some registered charities, and clarify the rules that led to them.