Governing is easier written than done

Mandate letters hint at Trudeau Liberals’ progress after two years

OTTAWA — When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau abandoned his promise to change the way Canadians vote in federal elections, he quietly changed some words in a mandate letter to the new minister in charge of the file.

“Changing the electoral system will not be in your mandate,” Trudeau wrote to Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould.

That bit of editing was needed because soon after the Liberals won their majority in 2015, Trudeau decided, in an unprecedented move for a federal government, to publish the traditionally secret mandate letters written to cabinet ministers.

There, for all to see, was a to-do list based largely on what the Liberals had promised on the campaign trail.

Nov. 4 marks two years since his first cabinet was sworn in, and the letters now serve as a way to evaluate the Liberal government as it arrives at the midway point of its mandate.

So far, so-so. The Liberals still have a lot of work to do before Trudeau is able to proclaim he has delivered on all of his promises.

“Canadians expect us to fulfil our commitments, and it is my expectation that you will do your part in delivering on those promises to Canadians,” Trudeau wrote in the introduction to each of the letters where he laid out his desired principles for how the Liberals should govern — emphasizing ethics, openness, consultations, teamwork and delivering results.

A few of the items, such as restoring the long-form census, welcoming 25,000 Syrian refugees and creating the Canada Child Benefit, were checked off the list relatively quickly — albeit with some bumps and a lot of money along the way.

Others, such as returning to a balanced budget, remain a work in progress.

Alex Marland, a political marketing expert, said the mandate letters serve as an important accountability tool, reminding the media, stakeholders, the public service and cabinet ministers themselves how the Liberals measure up to the standards they set for themselves.

“It’s really good that these things are transparent,” said Marland, who is a political-science professor at Memorial University in St. John’s, N.L.

The letters force the government to be open about goals that have fallen by the wayside, he noted. And when cabinet ministers got caught up in the cash-for-access fundraising scandal, they were held to the higher bar Trudeau set for ethics in his own Open and Accountable Government guide.

“If that’s a danger, I think that’s a good danger,” said Marland.