Prime Minister Mark Carney has laid out expectations for his new cabinet, emphasizing the need to tackle the “generational challenge” facing Canada “head on.”
The letter, released publicly on Wednesday, outlined seven priorities for the government to focus on.
“Canada’s new government has an immense responsibility to address these challenges head on with focus, new strategies and determined execution,” Carney said during a press conference on Wednesday following a cabinet retreat.
“That new approach animates the mandate letter that I shared with all members of our ministry at the end of our meeting. It reflects a unified mission.”
During former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s government, each minister was given their own mandate letter specific to their department with a list of priorities to focus on. Those were also posted online.
The first priority in the mandate letter Carney shared was for Canada to establish a new economic and security relationship with the U.S. and strengthen collaboration with reliable global trading partners and allies.
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Several of the following priorities looked at the economy, including building a “one Canadian economy” by removing interprovincial trade barriers, bringing down costs for Canadians and attracting global talent to build the economy.
In addition, the letter outlines a focus on making housing more affordable through “unleashing the power of public-private cooperation,” as well as protecting Canadian sovereignty and strengthening the Canadian Armed Forces, and spending less on government operations.
The priorities outlined were those promised by Carney during the federal election campaign.
Carney’s ministers are also asked to identify how they will “contribute” to the priorities of the government, and determine key goals and measures of success on how each will evaluate the results achieved by their ministry.
“You will be expected and empowered to lead, and to bring new ideas, clear focus and decisive action to your work,” the mandate letter reads.
Carney was also asked following the cabinet retreat about the Reform Act and whether he was comfortable with Liberal MPs adopting it.
The Reform Act allows caucuses to take on the power to trigger a leadership review if they see fit, but it is up to each caucus at the start of each new Parliament to decide whether they want to adopt those powers.
Carney said all parties are bound by the act and that votes on this will take place at the first caucus meeting on Sunday.
The new Parliament will meet for the first time on Monday to elect a new House speaker before returning on Tuesday, where King Charles III will deliver the speech from the throne.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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