The federal budget, mandate letters, economic statements, and the Speech from the Throne are the typical mechanisms for the federal government to flesh out its policy agenda. While each serves a different role, they are natural engagement points with the government and have influenced advocacy on Parliament Hill for years. The Speech from the Throne outlines the government’s general priorities which are then divided up amongst Cabinet through mandate letters to add substance, specificity and accountability to these priorities. Budgets and economic statements fill in the spending details and fiscal framework, and the pre-budget consultation process gives stakeholders an opportunity to bring their priorities forward.
While these are typical mechanisms, 2020 has been anything but typical. The COVID-19 pandemic has completely upended the government’s plans and the traditional channels used to communicate its agenda with stakeholders, the public, and parliamentarians. While it is understandable for the government to call an audible and throw the playbook out the window this year, it also begs the question: how can the public and stakeholders consult and engage on government policy plans, and how is the government developing policy without the usual level of consultation? To answer these questions, it’s useful to take a look at the recent return to somewhat regular business in the House of Commons.
After a spring, summer, and fall where the government’s legislative agenda was driven by emergency COVID-19 response measures, the Prime Minister and his team are pressing play on some of their long-term policy goals that have been on hold. Recently, the government has introduced legislation to amend broadcasting in Canada, update privacy laws to align with the “Digital Charter”, and build an accountability regime to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
So, where is Cabinet pulling these priorities and what is guiding those decisions? The Speech from the Throne at the end of September did not include much about their non-COVID priorities. The economic update in July only explored their COVID-19 response measures and the impact on the bottom line. The Standing Committee on Finance, entangled in a battle over WE documents and a government filibuster, hasn’t even started their pre-budget consultations – a staple of the fall legislative calendar. With no tangible update about the government’s non-COVID priorities since March, aside from an economic snapshot in July – and no new mandate letters, we have to look to the mandate letters from last fall.
It appears that since returning to regular business in the Commons in 2020, the government has been pulling from the plan it released in mandate letters following the 2019 federal election. With the threat of an election around every corner, the clock is ticking for the Prime Minister to deliver and move ahead with their biggest electoral promises. That may be why we are seeing a return to issues featured front and centre in the last legislative session – including those on privacy and climate change – take centre stage once again this fall.
For example, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Navdeep Bains’ new privacy legislation puts into motion a policy commitment not only highlighted in Bains’ 2019 mandate letter and the Liberal Party’s platform, but also the focus of multiple rounds of consultation and study in the last parliament. As we are still without mandate letters nearly two months after the beginning of the Fall session, stakeholders were wondering when – or if – the government would be preceding with privacy legislation at all.The introduction of Bill C-11 makes good on these past promises, and serves as an indication that the government may not be looking to rock the boat legislatively until the worst of the pandemic is over.
When trying to read the tea leaves on what the government is likely to move on in the immediate term, the best predictor of future behaviour is what’s been done in the past. Stakeholders should pay attention to unchecked boxes from 2019 mandate letters as they formulate their advocacy asks heading into the winter session.
