Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his team have been hard at work putting the finishing touches on pieces of critical correspondence for each member of Cabinet. The mandate letters will set out the key priorities for each minister and will provide insight into how the government is planning to execute its renewed agenda.
The new mandate letters are, of course, a requirement following last month’s Speech From the Throne, (SFT) and by extension the Prime Minister’s decision to prorogue parliament in the wake of the fallout from the WE charity scandal. The Prime Minister argued that their previous SFT and program had become obsolete following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless, it was readily apparent that the Liberals were in dire need of a reset, one way or another.
But just how big of a reset will be revealed in short order when the mandate letters are made public. While the SFT provides some insight into the government’s aspirations, it remains essentially a communications document. The mandate letters are where the rubber really starts to hit the road. Aspirational promises are fleshed out into policy objectives, programs to be introduced, and timelines for implementation.
A few elements we will be watching for in the upcoming release will be what’s in and what’s out from the 2019 mandate letters, where are the big files assigned, and just how much is there to do before the next federal election.
In terms of additions and subtractions, we – unsurprisingly – expect to see a lot of focus on COVID-19. Canada is entering its worst period of COVID-19 case increases since the pandemic began. The Liberals know that an effective management of the pandemic will be their best shot at success at the polls. Big new policy promises like childcare and EI reform will certainly be represented, but more interesting will be how more ambiguous SFT promises like combating racism and creating one million new jobs get translated into concrete policy actions. If there are to be any surprises, it may be found in what is missing from the 2019 mandate letters. The Liberals came out of the last election with an ambitious agenda and if there is going to be any de-prioritization of platform promises, it will be evident in the mandate letters.
How and where big files are located is also one of the interesting tidbits to pick over. The SFT made a number of big promises related to health care including reaffirming a commitment to pharmacare and new national standards for long-term care. Health Minister Hajdu’s office, however, is also leading on the government’s most important file: pandemic management. Some commitments, like pharmacare and childcare, also require federal-provincial dialogue and where the leadership of those files ends up will be important for targeting your outreach. Of course, there’s also the question of which responsibilities get delegated to the new and improved Minister for Everything, Chrystia Freeland. She is now, more than ever, situated at the heart of this government.
However, perhaps the most important detail to look for will be just how much is the government promising to do – and just how long does it appear they are giving themselves to do it. Mandate letters work extremely well when you have a nice, round 4-year mandate. But a minority parliament means an election is always just around the corner. There will certainly be some thought given by the Liberals about how much to promise to get done by the time voters next find themselves in the ballot box. Overpromising and underdelivering is not a strategy for electoral success. No minority parliament in the modern era has ever lasted more than 931 days. As hard as it may seem to believe, the second Trudeau mandate (313 days) is almost certainly at least a third the way through, if not more so.
Expect to be hearing from us soon with all the details on what the new mandate letters mean for you.