Prime Minister sets out mandate for his government; feedback is supportive.

By Staff

May 22nd, 2025

BURLINGTON, ON

Prime Minister Mark Carney

Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote the members of his Cabinet, setting out what they expected to achieve during their first term of office.

We will focus on seven priorities:

1. Establishing a new economic and security relationship with the United States and strengthening our collaboration with reliable trading partners and allies around the world.
2. Building one Canadian economy by removing barriers to interprovincial trade and identifying and expediting nation-building projects that will connect and transform our country.
3. Bringing down costs for Canadians and helping them to get ahead.
4. Making housing more affordable by unleashing the power of public-private cooperation, catalysing a modern housing industry, and creating new careers in the skilled trades.
5. Protecting Canadian sovereignty and keeping Canadians safe by strengthening the Canadian Armed Forces, securing our borders, and reinforcing law enforcement.
6. Attracting the best talent in the world to help build our economy, while returning our overall immigration rates to sustainable levels.
7. Spending less on government operations so that Canadians can invest more in the people and businesses that will build the strongest economy in the G7.

Sounds nice – let’s see how well they do.

Interesting to note that Carney did not give each Minister anything specific – the same document went to each Cabinet member.  At least they are going to be able to say they did get the memo.

Feedback on the Carney mandate letter:

Keeping with Carney, he released his mandate letter to cabinet on Wednesday, spelling out a broad list of priorities for his re-elected Liberal government, including establishing a new economic and security relationship with the U.S., removing internal trade barriers and reducing costs for Canadians.

It represents a break from the tradition established by Justin Trudeau, where each minister received instructions unique to their portfolio.

Carlene Variyan, a former chief of staff in the Trudeau government, said Carney’s mandate letter was a “very effective way” of signalling that this new cabinet has “a narrow and disciplined focus in a time of perceived crisis.”

“A lot of people who have served in government and were involved in the drafting of mandate letters probably thought yesterday ‘why didn’t I think of that?’ It’s quite clever,” she told iPolitics.

Erin Morrison, who previously served as Jagmeet Singh’s director of communications and deputy chief of staff, said the mandate letter provides an opportunity for the hobbled NDP, which took only 7 seats in the April 28 vote, losing official party status.

She said Carney’s priorities “make it clear that this is a Liberal Party that’s moving quite a bit to the right,” pointing to his calls to reduce spending and using private-public partnerships to support new housing construction.