OTTAWA - It was one of Justin Trudeau's significant innovations to improve government transparency and accountability. The project was welcomed by the Greens at the time. From his first cabinet meeting in 2015, the Prime Minister made his ministers' mandate letters public. He then entrenched this new practice in law.
"But strangely," noted Green Party leader Elizabeth May, "the new ministers appointed on July 26 still haven't received letters from the Prime Minister telling them their priorities. If they have, these letters are not public.
Deputy leader Jonathan Pedneault pointed out that "some ministers continue to play the same role and may therefore receive the same instructions. But others, like Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier, are brand new to the job and many fear that key decisions such as the removal of toxic fish farms from open waters will be blocked. Moreover, it's all the more important that new ministers such as Terry Beech, Minister of Citizen Services, receive clear instructions to which the Canadian public can have access".
Memo to PMO: Summer Vacation is over. Time to get back to work.
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