Highlights from Mandate Letters for the 29th Canadian Ministry

December 13, 2019

Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly released all ministerial mandate letters.

The mandate letters from the Prime Minister provide a framework for what Ministers are expected to accomplish, including specific policy objectives and challenges to be addressed.

A number of letters include priorities of interest to the Canadian library and information management community:

Minister of Canadian Heritage (Steven Guilbeault)

• Work with all cultural and creative sectors on the successful delivery of initiatives and new funding announced in previous Budgets.
• Create new regulations for social media platforms, starting with a requirement that all platforms remove illegal content, including hate speech, within 24 hours or face significant penalties. This should include other online harms such as radicalization, incitement to violence, exploitation of children, or creation or distribution of terrorist propaganda.
• Co-lead work with the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry to modernize the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act, examining how best to support Canadian content in English and French and ensure quality affordable internet, mobile and media access. Work with the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry to introduce legislation by the end of 2020 that will take appropriate measures to ensure that all content providers, including internet giants, offer meaningful levels of Canadian content in their catalogues, contribute to the creation of Canadian content in both Official Languages, promote this content and make it easily accessible on their platforms. The legislation should also consider additional cultural and linguistic communities.
• Continue to fully implement the Indigenous Languages Act in order to preserve, promote and revitalize Indigenous languages in Canada, with long-term predictable and sufficient funding to support the implementation of the Act.
• Co-develop, with Indigenous Peoples, a framework for repatriating Indigenous cultural property and ancestral remains.
• Strengthen the regional mandate of CBC/Radio-Canada to broadcast more local news and require CBC/Radio-Canada to open up its digital platform.
• Increase annual funding for Telefilm Canada.
• Make the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Heritage Centre a national museum.
• Review our national museums policy to ensure that people can access Canadian history across the country, with better access to digital collections. Introduce the Culture Pass, a $200 credit that every Canadian child will receive when they turn 12 years old to be used to access theatres, museums, galleries, workshops and other cultural venues and local Canadian content.
• Work with the national museums to increase Canadians’ awareness of climate change.
• Work with the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to advance Canada’s Digital Charter and enhanced powers for the Privacy Commissioner, in order to establish a new set of online rights, including: data portability; the ability to withdraw, remove and erase basic personal data from a platform; the knowledge of how personal data is being used, including with a national advertising registry and the ability to withdraw consent for the sharing or sale of data; the ability to review and challenge the amount of personal data that a company or government has collected; proactive data security requirements; the ability to be informed when personal data is breached with appropriate compensation; and the ability to be free from online discrimination including bias and harassment.
• Work with the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry in reviewing the Copyright Act.
• Support the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry to create new regulations for large digital companies to better protect people’s personal data and to encourage greater competition in the digital marketplace. A newly created Data Commissioner will oversee those regulations.
• Work with the Minister of Foreign Affairs to introduce a new Cultural Diplomacy strategy with at least one international mission each year to promote Canadian culture and creators around the world.
• Work with the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, who is the Minister responsible for Parks Canada, to provide clearer direction on how national heritage places should be designated and preserved and to introduce new comprehensive heritage legislation on federally owned heritage places.
• Support local journalism and develop business models that facilitate private giving and philanthropic support for professional journalism and local news.

Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations (Carolyn Bennett)

• Support the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada in work to introduce co-developed legislation to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the end of 2020.
• Lead and coordinate the work required of all Ministers to continue to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.
• Lead and coordinate the work required of all Ministers in establishing a National Action Plan in response to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ Calls for Justice, in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples.

Minister of Digital Government (Joyce Murray)

• Lead work across government to transition to a more digital government in order to improve citizen service.
• Oversee the Chief Information Officer and the Canadian Digital Service as they work with departments to develop solutions that will benefit Canadians and enhance the capacity to use modern tools and methodologies across Government.
• Lead work to analyze and improve the delivery of information technology (IT) within government. This work will include identifying all core and at-risk IT systems and platforms. You will lead the renewal of SSC so that it is properly resourced and aligned to deliver common IT infrastructure that is reliable and secure.
• Lead work to create a centre of expertise that brings together the necessary skills to effectively implement major transformation projects across government, including technical, procurement and legal expertise.
• Support the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry in continuing work on the ethical use of data and digital tools like artificial intelligence for better government.
• With the support of the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, accelerate progress on a new Government of Canada service strategy that aims to create a single online window for all government services with new performance standards.
• Support the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development in expanding and improving the services provided by Service Canada.
• Support the Minister of Public Services and Procurement in eliminating the backlog of outstanding pay issues for public servants as a result of the Phoenix Pay System.
• Lead work on the Next Generation Human Resources and Pay System to replace the Phoenix Pay System and support the President of the Treasury Board as he actively engages Canada’s major public sector unions.
• Support the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Minister of National Revenue to implement a voluntary, real-time e-payroll system with an initial focus on small businesses.
• Fully implement lessons learned from previous information technology project challenges and failures, particularly around sunk costs and major multi-year contracts. Act transparently by sharing identified successes and difficulties within government, with the aim of constantly improving the delivery of projects large and small.
• Encourage the use and development of open source products and open data, allowing for experimentation within existing policy directives and building an inventory of validated and secure applications that can be used by government to share knowledge and expertise to support innovation.

Minister of Diversity, Inclusion, and Youth (Bardish Chagger)

• Lead multiculturalism policy, programs and activities to ensure that Canadian diversity is celebrated and respected in all of its forms.
• Work to ensure that multicultural programs are delivered in an effective way.
• Work with your colleagues to develop policies that tackle systemic discrimination and unconscious bias in our country, including anti-Black racism.
• Expand and advance Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy and ensure community-based projects are prioritized and meet the goals and outcomes of the Strategy.
• Establish an Anti-Racism Secretariat.
• Work with the Minister of Finance and the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development to improve the quality and scope of Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) in future budgets, particularly with a focus on diversity analysis.
• Support the work of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development to ensure rigorous GBA+ is performed on all Cabinet proposals from every department, with a particular focus on diversity analysis.
• Support the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development in his continued investments in projects that celebrate, share knowledge of, and build capacity in our vibrant Black Canadian communities.
• Work with Ministers across government to build on the spirit of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent.
• Make new investments in research, support and employment projects for visible minority newcomer women, with support from the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion.
• Support the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship on pilot programming to encourage more newcomers to settle in rural Canada.
• Work with other Ministers, and economic development, agricultural and trade organizations as well as directly with industry, to ensure that under-represented people and communities, such as racialized communities, are better served and more informed about the programs and services that can help them find economic opportunities.
• Continue the work of the LGBTQ2 Secretariat in promoting LGBTQ2 equality, protecting LGBTQ2 rights and addressing discrimination against LGBTQ2 communities.
• Provide additional investments to LGBTQ2 organizations to hire staff, expand services and reach more people. This includes hotlines and other support services for LGBTQ2 communities, including those that provide sexual health information.
• Consult civil society representatives of LGBTQ2 communities to lay the groundwork for an LGBTQ2 action plan that would guide the work of the federal government on issues important to LGBTQ2 Canadians.
• Support the work of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to ensure that all Canadian communities feel safe by combatting online hate and harassment and combatting ideologically-motivated violent extremism and terrorist organizations.
• Continue the work of the Youth Secretariat to implement Canada’s first-ever Youth Policy and ensure that the upcoming State of Youth report adopts an intersectional approach that includes race.
• Support the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion to enhance the Youth Employment Strategy and the Canada Summer Jobs program.
• Lead, with the support of the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, the development of a signature national youth service program within the Canada Service Corps to allow youth to gain skills and leadership experience while making a meaningful difference in their communities.

Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages (Mélanie Joly)

• Modernize and reinforce the Official Languages Act. As part of these modernization efforts, you will protect CBC/Radio-Canada’s role in better reflecting Canada’s linguistic duality and minority language communities across the country, ensure that Air Canada provides fully bilingual services to its customers, and review and strengthen the powers of the Commissioner of Official Languages. Further, undertake an enumeration of rights-holders and a thorough post-census survey to better account for and better serve minority language communities.
• Work with the provinces and territories to ensure that all Canadians can access second Official Language programs, like immersion, in their local schools if they choose to do so, and make new investments to help train, recruit and attract teachers in both immersion and second Official Language programs.
• Based on new targets set by the provinces and territories, develop and promote new opportunities for language and cultural exchanges and invest in building infrastructure that supports strong Official Language minority communities, including schools and cultural centres.
• Work with the province of Ontario to establish the Université de l’Ontario français.
• Complete the launch of “Mauril”, the free, online, easy-to-use tool to help Canadians improve their Official Languages capacity.

Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Disability Inclusion (Carla Qualtrough)

• Further strengthen the Canada Student Loans and Grants system:
  • Increase Canada Student Grants by up to $1,200 per year for post-secondary education students;
  • Extend the interest-free grace period after graduation before student loans need to be repaid from six months to two years;
  • Increase the Repayment Assistance Plan income threshold from $25,000 to $35,000, pausing repayment obligations if income falls below this level and maintaining flexibility for early repayment;
  • Allow new parents to pause their student loan repayments, interest-free, until their youngest child reaches age 5. In addition, new parents who have graduated but have not paid off their student loans may also pause their repayment until their child turns 5 years old;
  • Provide compensation to provinces and territories that do not participate in the Canada Student Loans Program; and
  • Raise public awareness of the financial supports that students, workers and families have access to for education and training.
• With the support of the Minister of Finance, continue the implementation of the new Canada Training Benefit, for launch in 2020.
• Continue to support the work of the national campaign to promote the skilled trades as first choice careers for young people.
• Invest in skills training to ensure that there are enough qualified workers to support energy audits, retrofits and net zero home construction.
• Create the Canadian Apprenticeship Service in partnership with provinces, territories, employers and unions. This will involve establishing new initiatives so that Red Seal apprentices have sufficient work experience opportunities to finish their training on time and find well paying jobs, including providing up to $10,000 per apprentice over four years for every new position created.
• With the support of the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, enhance the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy and the Canada Summer Jobs program.
• Continue your efforts in leading the Government’s work to promote disability inclusion:
  • Ensure the timely and ambitious implementation of the Accessible Canada Act, putting relevant policies and practices of the new Act into place and supporting the operationalization of the Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization, in consultation with the disability community;
  • Conduct a comprehensive review to ensure a consistent approach to disability inclusion and supports across government that addresses the unfairness and inequities in government programs and services, and challenges the biases built into government processes. This includes a definition of disability consistent with the Accessible Canada Act;
  • Support the Minister of Health toward the creation of a national autism strategy;
  • Double the Child Disability Benefit and work with families and experts to ensure the Benefit is effective in providing help as most needed;
  • Undertake initiatives to improve the economic inclusion of persons with disabilities and specifically target barriers to full participation in the labour force, including addressing discrimination and stigma, raising public awareness and working with employers and businesses in a coordinated way; and
  • Create a workplace accessibility fund to help increase the availability of accommodations that help close the gaps in access to good paying jobs and education.

Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development (Ahmed Hussen)

• Work with the provinces and territories to invest in the creation of up to 250,000 additional before- and after-school spaces for kids under 10. At least 10 per cent of these new spaces should allow for care during extended hours. You will also invest in lowering child care fees for before- and after-school programs by 10 per cent.
• Work with the provinces and territories to provide more support for early childhood educators. This includes lowering costs for those getting their early childhood educator degree and/or additional training.
• Work with the provinces and territories to create a national secretariat to lay the groundwork for a pan-Canadian childcare system.
• Lead the expansion and improvement of the services provided by Service Canada with support from the Minister of Digital Government.

Minister of Finance (Bill Morneau)

• Work with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to ensure that international digital corporations whose products are consumed in Canada collect and remit the same level of sales tax as Canadian digital corporations.
• Support the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry in concluding consultations with provinces and territories on the creation of a pan-Canadian public registry for beneficial ownership and in preparing legislation reflecting the outcome of those consultations.
• Complete implementation of the new financial consumer protection framework.
• Support the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry in developing enhanced consumer protections, including the creation of a new Canadian Consumer Advocate.

Minister of Health (Patty Hajdu)

• Work closely with other orders of government, as well as substance use experts, service providers, first responders, law enforcement and people with lived and living experience in order to ensure Canada’s response to the current opioid crisis is robust, well-coordinated and effective:
  • Work with the provinces and territories on new investments that expand community-based services, build more in-patient rehabilitation beds, and scale up the most effective programs such as extending hours for safe consumption sites.
• Work with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to integrate sex- and gender-based analyses, as well as diversity analyses, to ensure research takes diversity factors into account to improve women’s health care.
• Provide additional funding to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research so that it can create academic research grants for studies on race, diversity and gender.
• Create a National Institute for Women’s Health Research, with the support of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development, that will bring together experts in women’s health from across the country to tackle persistent gaps in research and care using an intersectional approach.

Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship (Marco Mendicino)

• Introduce a dedicated refugee stream to provide safe haven for human rights advocates, journalists and humanitarian workers at risk, with a target of helping resettle as many as 250 people a year.
• Introduce a Municipal Nominee Program that will allow local communities, chambers of commerce and local labour councils to directly sponsor permanent immigrants. At least 5,000 new spaces will be dedicated for this program.
• With the support of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development and the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, work to implement pilot programing to encourage more newcomers to settle in rural Canada.

Minister of Indigenous Services (Marc Miller)

• Continue to fully implement Jordan’s Principle to ensure that First Nations children have access to the health, social and educational supports and services that they need, when and where they need them.
• Move quickly on fair and equitable compensation to First Nations persons who were harmed by the discriminatory underfunding of child and family services on reserve.
• Continue to work with First Nations communities to ensure First Nations control over the development and delivery of services.
• Supported by the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, work to co-develop and invest in distinctions-based community infrastructure plans, and move forward with addressing critical needs including housing, all-weather roads, high-speed internet, health facilities, treatment centres and schools in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities by 2030. These plans should also include new investments to support the operation and maintenance of this infrastructure.
• Working with the provinces and territories, fully implement An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families, and ensure long-term predictable and sufficient funding to support the implementation of the Act.
• Ensure that First Nations, Inuit and Métis students have the support they need to access and succeed at post-secondary education.

Minister of Infrastructure and Communities (Catherine McKenna)

• Continue to work with other Members of Parliament to implement the Investing in Canada Plan. Your focus must be on the successful, timely delivery of our growth-generating investments in public transit, green infrastructure and social infrastructure, as well as key strategic infrastructure that will increase trade. The key objectives of this plan are increasing economic growth and creating good middle class jobs with infrastructure that improves people’s quality of life.
• Require that all provinces and territories identify and approve all of their long-term infrastructure priorities within the next two years and according to the signed bilateral agreements. Funds that are not designated for specific approved projects by the end of 2021 will be reinvested directly in communities through a top up of the federal Gas Tax Fund.
• Create a National Infrastructure Fund to seek out and support major nation-building projects that will benefit people across various regions, connect our country and improve quality of life. This should start by supporting the Newfoundland-Labrador fixed transportation link.
• Ensure that Canadians have access to accurate and timely information about infrastructure investments in their communities, and work with your Cabinet colleagues to improve financial reporting to Canadians and the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
• You are the Minister responsible for the arm’s-length Canada Infrastructure Bank, now fully operational. With the support of the Minister of Finance, ensure the Bank has the support it needs for its core purpose of attracting private sector and institutional investment to expand the scope of public infrastructure investment in Canada, in line with the Government’s public policy objectives. In particular:
  • With the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development, and with the support of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and the Minister of Canadian Heritage, work with the Bank to deliver high-speed internet to 100 per cent of Canadian homes and businesses by 2030.
• Work with the Minister of Indigenous Services to co-develop and invest in distinctions-based community infrastructure plans, and move forward with addressing critical needs including housing, all-weather roads, high-speed internet, health facilities, treatment centres and schools in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities by 2030. These plans should also include new investments to support the operation and maintenance of this infrastructure.
• Work with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities through the Green Municipal Fund, the Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program and the Municipal Asset Management Program to build climate resilience, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, make better decisions, and monitor investments and ensure they reduce emissions from residential, commercial and multi-unit buildings.

Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry (Navdeep Bains)

• Support the Chief Science Advisor to ensure that the government’s pure and applied science is fully available to the public, that scientists are able to speak freely about their work and that scientific analysis from across Canada and around the world is considered when the Government makes decisions. Ensure that Cabinet and I receive regular briefings from the Chief Science Advisor on cross-government science priorities.
• As the Minister responsible for the National Research Council, work to continue to drive mission-oriented research to address the great challenges of our age, including climate change, clean growth and a healthy society.
• Continue to advance Canada’s commitment to promoting gender equity, diversity and inclusion in the Sciences, and provide funding to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to create academic research grants for studies on race, diversity and gender in Canada.
• Use all available instruments, including the advancement of the 2019 Telecom Policy Directive, to reduce the average cost of cellular phone bills in Canada by 25 per cent. You will work with telecom companies and expand mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) in the market. If within two years this price target is not achieved, you can expand MVNO qualifying rules and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission mandate on affordable pricing.
• Award spectrum access based on commitments towards consumer choice, affordability and broad access. You will also reserve space for new entrants.
• With the support of the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance and the Minister of Seniors, create a new Canadian Consumer Advocate to ensure a single point of contact for people who need help with federally regulated banking, telecom or transportation-related complaints. Ensure that complaints are reviewed and, if founded, that appropriate remedies and penalties can be imposed.
• Work with the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development and the Minister of Canadian Heritage to deliver high-speed internet to 100 per cent of Canadian homes and businesses by 2030.
• Co-lead work with the Minister of Canadian Heritage to modernize the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act, examining how best to support Canadian content in English and French and ensure quality affordable internet, mobile and media access.
• Work with the Minister of Canadian Heritage to introduce legislation by the end of 2020 that will take appropriate measures to ensure that all content providers, including internet giants, offer meaningful levels of Canadian content in their catalogues, contribute to the creation of Canadian content in both Official Languages, promote this content and make it easily accessible on their platforms. The legislation should also consider additional cultural and linguistic communities.
• Work with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and the Minister of Canadian Heritage to advance Canada’s Digital Charter and enhanced powers for the Privacy Commissioner, in order to establish a new set of online rights, including: data portability; the ability to withdraw, remove and erase basic personal data from a platform; the knowledge of how personal data is being used, including with a national advertising registry and the ability to withdraw consent for the sharing or sale of data; the ability to review and challenge the amount of personal data that a company or government has collected; proactive data security requirements; the ability to be informed when personal data is breached with appropriate compensation; and the ability to be free from online discrimination including bias and harassment.
• With the support of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, create new regulations for large digital companies to better protect people’s personal data and encourage greater competition in the digital marketplace. A newly created Data Commissioner will oversee those regulations.
• With the support of the Minister of Digital Government, continue work on the ethical use of data and digital tools like artificial intelligence for better government.
• As the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada:
  • Prepare for the long-form census in 2021, including the collection and analysis of disaggregated data;
  • Support the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth by improving the quality and amount of data collection done by Statistics Canada regarding hate crimes to help create effective and evidence-based policies to counteract these crimes; and
  • Support the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity andAssociate Minister of Finance to better incorporate quality of life measurements into government decision-making and budgeting.
• Work with the Minister of Canadian Heritage to review the Copyright Act.

Minister of International Development (Karina Gould)

• Expand Canada’s support for global education, including for the poorest and most vulnerable:
  • Invest at least 10 per cent of our bilateral international development assistance envelope on education; and
  • Lead an international campaign to ensure that all refugee and displaced children can get the education they need and deserve.

Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (David Lametti)

• Work with the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to combat online hate and harassment.
• Work with the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and the Minister of Canadian Heritage to advance Canada’s Digital Charter and enhanced powers for the Privacy Commissioner, in order to establish a new set of online rights, including: data portability; the ability to withdraw, remove and erase basic personal data from a platform; the knowledge of how personal data is being used, including a national advertising registry and the ability to withdraw consent for the sharing or sale of data; the ability to review and challenge the amount of personal data that a company or government has collected; proactive data security requirements; the ability to be informed when personal data is breached with appropriate compensation; and the ability to be free from online discrimination including bias and harassment.

Minister of Labour (Filomena Tassi)

• Introduce legislation to create a new federal Family Day holiday.
• Improve labour protections in the Canada Labour Code. As part of this work, you will:
  • Increase the federal minimum wage to at least $15 per hour;
  • Include mental health as a specific element of occupational health and safety;
  • Require federally regulated employers to take preventative steps to address workplace stress and injury;
  • Develop greater labour protections for people who work through digital platforms, whose status is not clearly covered by provincial or federal laws; and
  • Co-develop new provisions with employers and labour groups that give federally regulated workers the “right to disconnect.”
• Lead the implementation of the recently passed Pay Equity Act.

Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance (Mona Fortier)

• Lead work within the Department of Finance, with the support of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry as the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada, to better incorporate quality of life measurements into government decision-making and budgeting, drawing on lessons from other jurisdictions such as New Zealand and Scotland.
• Work with the Minister of Finance to ensure that the Department of Finance has the analytical and advisory capabilities that it needs to support and measure the impact of an economic agenda focused on growing the middle class and those people working hard to join it. This includes deeper integration with household and firm analyses conducted by Employment and Social Development Canada and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
• Support the Minister of Finance in completing implementation of the new financial consumer protection framework, as well as in examining ways of bolstering financial consumer literacy. Support the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry in developing enhanced consumer protections, including the creation of a new Canadian Consumer Advocate.

Minister of National Defence (Harjit Sajjan)

• With the support of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, introduce a new framework governing how Canada gathers, manages and uses defence intelligence, as recommended by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.

Minister of Northern Affairs (Dan Vandal)

• Give consideration to the recommendations to come from the Task Force on post-secondary education in Canada’s Arctic and Northern regions as announced in Budget 2019 as appropriate and relevant to the federal government and Indigenous communities in order to establish a robust system of post-secondary education in the North.

Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (William Blair)

• Support the Minister of National Defence to introduce a new framework governing how Canada gathers, manages and uses defence intelligence, as recommended by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.

Minister of Public Services and Procurement (Anita Anand)

• With the support of the Minister of Digital Government, eliminate the backlog of outstanding pay issues for public servants as a result of the Phoenix Pay System to rebuild their confidence in the integrity of their pay and pensions.
• Support the Minister of Digital Government on the Next Generation Pay and Human Resources System to replace the Phoenix Pay System and support the President of the Treasury Board to actively engage Canada’s major public sector unions.
• Work with the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion to develop a proposal to require that government suppliers participate in the new Canadian Apprenticeship Service, and require that federal construction contracts meet targets for greater inclusion of women in the trades.

Minister of Seniors (Deb Schulte)

• Support the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and the Minister of Finance in the implementation of further efforts to enhance consumer protections, such as the creation of a new Canadian Consumer Advocate, to ensure they respond to the unique needs of seniors.

Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development (Maryam Monsef)

• Continue to establish and strengthen your important department, including by renewing our commitment to a Federal Plan for Gender Equality, a strategy built on the Gender Results Framework and other international agreements.
• Work to ensure that rigorous Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) is performed on all Cabinet proposals from every department.
• Continue to work with the Minister of Finance and work with the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth to improve the quality and scope of GBA+ in future budgets.
• Support the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations to continue to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ Calls for Justice in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples.
• Work with the President of the Treasury Board and with me to increase the number of women in senior decision-making positions across government, particularly in central agencies and in our security services, and with the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry to support continued gender equality and diversity in Canadian companies.
• Support the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development in providing more accessible and affordable childcare including the creation of a national secretariat that will lay the groundwork for a pan-Canadian childcare system. In addition, continue to work with the Minister to ensure that, through the National Housing Strategy, Canadians including women and girls, can access housing that is affordable and meets their needs.
• Implement the Rural Economic Development Strategy for Canada. This strategy will capitalize on the enormous opportunity vibrant rural economies and communities represent to strengthen the middle class and enhance economic growth for Canada.
• Work with the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry to increase high-speed broadband coverage in rural Canada by leading the rollout of existing investments, developing and implementing programming towards further improvements and ensuring that investments by the Government of Canada, provincial and territorial partners and the private sector are coordinated to best prepare rural Canada for success in the digital economy.
• Support the Minister of Public Services and Procurement to improve Canada Post services in rural and remote areas.
• Support the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship on pilot programming to encourage more newcomers to settle in rural Canada.

President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada (Dominic Leblanc)

• With the support of the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, conduct research and policy development on online disinformation in the Canadian context. This investment will also enable Canada to lead an international initiative aimed at building consensus and developing guiding principles on how to strengthen citizen resilience to online disinformation.
• Lead a review of measures the Government of Canada put in place to protect its electoral process from cyber threats, particularly the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol, and bring forward recommendations to further protect Canada’s electoral and democratic institutions from cyber and non-cyber interference. This includes working with existing and new domestic and international stakeholders, as well as other orders of government, to strengthen Canada’s whole-of-society preparedness, resilience and civic engagement in the face of evolving threats to democracy.

President of the Treasury Board (Jean-Yves Duclos)

• Work with the Clerk of the Privy Council and with me to ensure that the Public Service of Canada recruits and retains talented people from communities across Canada. Canada’s professional Public Service is one of the best in the world; it needs the right resources and the right people to continue to serve Canadians well. This includes working with the Public Service Commission to reduce the time it takes to hire new public servants, with the goal of cutting in half the average time from ten to five months.
• Improve project management capabilities so that all major projects in government are led by a certified professional with at least five years of experience.

(Via Office of the Prime Minister)