Mission-Focused Mandate Letters

The Liberal Party of Canada under leader Mark Carney has been returned to government with a strengthened minority. Throughout the campaign, Carney made it clear that his ambition was to unify the country, grow the economy, and protect our sovereignty. This ambition was underscored by plans to create a single internal Canadian market, invest in large nation-building infrastructure projects, build more homes, and rebuild the Canadian Armed Forces. 

These goals are ambitious. But, achieving them is vital to Canada’s prosperity, security, and even survival. If there is one thing the recent election made plain, it is that Canadians are demanding to see bold ideas like these transformed into action. In the days and weeks to come, Prime Minister Carney will signal the scope of his ambition and how committed his government is to making good on these promises.

Since the 1970s, Canadian prime ministers have issued mandate letters to each minister, to outline government priorities, give advice on process, and state specific tasks to be accomplished in each portfolio. In 2015, Justin Trudeau became the first prime minister to make these letters public. The stated purpose of doing so was to increase accountability but the reality was very different: Trudeau’s mandate letters became little more than tools for public relations without a clear focus on the department’s mission and priorities. Instead of acting as private guidance to a minister on how to get things done, they became public showpieces for Liberal Party branding. 

Prime Minister Carney may or may not make his mandate letters public. But whatever he decides, we hope that the letters are written with an emphasis on action and outcomes that will get Canada building again. This is what Canadians want.

To that end, the Build Canada team has worked with entrepreneurs in our network to craft mandate letters for several ministries. We have done this by taking the Liberal Party’s platform and goals and transforming them into practical plans. They are written in a style designed to return to the pre-2015 standards: concise, direct, measurable and entirely mission-focused. Framing the government's task in this way will be hugely beneficial in creating the future that we know Canadians want.  

While we strongly believe this approach will help increase the government’s effectiveness and be well received by Canadians, these letters are only a suggestion. By framing the party’s platform in this way and, in certain cases, making the targets more concrete. We hope to help move forward the conversation on how the Liberal Party can turn their ambitions into reality. 

Read our mandate letters for key ministries below:

• Minister of Finance
• Minister of Housing
• Minister of Innovation
• Minister of Immigration
• Minister of Public Services
• Minister of Energy
• Minister of National Defence
• Minister of Health

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