Cabinet hunkering down to focus on policy priorities
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his ministers will huddle in an isolated New Brunswick resort town for three days starting Sunday to discuss what they can — and cannot — accomplish during the coming parliamentary session.
Top of mind will be the dire state of the economy, which will force Trudeau’s team into tough choices as it prepares to unveil the new government’s first budget, likely in March.
The discussion will include what size deficit they think Canadians will accept, and whether some promises should be scaled back or shelved.
They’ll also hear from “delivery” guru Michael Barber, who became the most powerful public servant in Britain more than a decade ago as head of then-prime minister Tony Blair’s “delivery unit” at 10 Downing Street — effectively working to ensure government promises made it into practice.
Barber now teaches his science of delivery or “deliverology” around the world.
The Liberals have already signalled that they will not hold the federal deficit to less than $10 billion this year.
Trudeau has also said the government will spend billions on infrastructure in hopes of boosting productivity and economic growth. Infrastructure investments, he said in Toronto this week, are “not a problem. They are part of the solution to the challenges that Canada has been facing.”
But while those investments were supposed to total an extra $60 billion over the next decade, only about $17.4 billion was earmarked for the next four years. With the price of oil now at its lowest level in years, the Liberals are considering shovelling the cash out faster.
Combined with lower-thanexpected revenues, this could add billions to the Liberals’ original deficit projections.
The government will already shell out $1.2 billion more than expected to cover its middle-class tax cut.
Other items expected in the budget include a new child benefit, which will cost the government about $2 billion; $2.1 billion for jobs and training; and a combined $2.5 billion for veterans, aboriginals, the CBC and others.
The cabinet meeting takes place in a resort hotel at St. Andrews by-the-Sea, an hour southwest of Saint John.
Ministers will have much to talk about among themselves. For example, Health Minister Jane Philpott will sit down with her provincial counterparts immediately after the retreat to discuss a new federal funding formula.
Trudeau must also host a meeting with premiers before midMarch to iron out a national plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The war in Iraq and Syria, a new environmental assessment process for natural resource projects, new legislation on assisted dying, and how to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations for indigenous Canadians will all be hot topics this spring.
After a torrid first three months in power, which included resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees, reinstating the long-form census and implementing middle-class tax cuts, the Liberals still enjoy a sizable lead in public opinion.
According to a poll released Friday by Abacus, 53 per cent of those asked said they approve of the performance of the federal government, while just 25 per cent do not.
“To put this in context,” wrote pollsters Bruce Anderson and David Coletto, “at no point during 2015 did the (Stephen) Harper government find an approval rating higher than 37 per cent.”