Canadians still in the dark about federal mandate letters

Multiple ministers could have a role in ag, a policy specialist said

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Almost three months have passed since Prime Minister Trudeau shuffled his cabinet, the fall legislative session is about one month old, and Canadians still haven’t seen any federal mandate letters.

Federal ministerial mandate letters haven’t received an update since December 2021.

“I think it speaks to the reality that things take longer in government than they used to,” Tyler McCann, managing director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, told Farms.com. “It’s also worth noting that mandate letters only became public after Trudeau was elected in 2015.”

Cabinet letters, while useful in helping Canadians understand what the federal government considers important, shouldn’t be considered an ironclad document because they can become outdated very quickly, McCann said.

Tyler McCann

But many people are waiting to see what Minister MacAulay’s marching orders will be in his second stint as minister of agriculture.

“These letters can really be an opportunity for ministers to address the challenges and opportunities in front of us in the ag sector,” McCan said.

Seeing a focus on sustainable ag and other programs wouldn’t be a surprise, McCann added.

“I think you’d see direction to work on labour and the policy on school lunches,” he said. “One thing that’s been absent from mandate letters in the past is a focus on trade. So it will be interesting to see if there’s anything there, or on food prices and how the agriculture minister can be a part of that solution.”

McCann expects other ministerial letters to affect ag policy.

Many programs and policies affecting agriculture begin in other portfolios, he said.

“We know the government continues to roll out its environment plans, rolled out by Environment and Climate Change Canada,” McCann said. “I imagine Health Canada will be involved with how pesticides are regulated. I hope to see more direction from the trade minister, and it’ll be interesting to see how much direction the innovation minister is given based on food prices and bringing those down.”