October 20, 2020

TRUDEAU Govt has to walk, chew gum and dance (Cardozo)

By

Government has to walk, chew gum and dance at the same time.

Fourteen years ago the NDP killed Canada’s national childcare plan days after it was signed and sealed. They can’t do it again this time.
In 2006 the minority Liberal government of Paul Martin had signed a complex series of agreements with each province and territory, but before it could go into effect, the New Democrats voted with the Conservatives to bring down the government, and national childcare was a casualty for more than a decade.

The government promised to try again but it has work to do on many levels. The walk, chew gum and dance is about doing the urgent COVID work, doing the big things for the longer term, and dealing with the fallout from the WE scandal – all at the same time.

On the latter, the government and the Conservative opposition are locked in a high stakes battle of chicken. The Conservatives betting that Canadians can be convinced to care about what went wrong, and the government convinced that Canadians are much more concerned, if not downright petrified about the pandemic’s second wave, which could make for a miserable winter, at the least.

On the first part, the government excels. New or amended programs to help Canadians as the second waves washes over us. Millions of people are extremely nervous and in need. When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said “we have your back”, they believe him, not because of his regular press conferences, but because the programs are there and accessible. Sure there are gaps and challenges, but overall the performance is stellar, while the government is in overdrive attending to the myriad aspects from securing jobs to purchasing COVID vaccines.

And while the Conservatives complain about the irresponsible deficit, Canadians, the business community included, plead for more help…more spending.

Which brings us to the second part, the big ticket and long term new policies, the ambitious stuff of the recent Throne Speech, one of the most ambitious ones for a government in mid term.

Crises offer our society the opportunity to cower and run for cover, or be bold and think big. We have the opportunity to re-imagine our society, learn the lessons that have been laid bare this year, and build back better.

These are huge items which require legislation and considerable provincial participation. These include national child care, pharmacare and national standards for long term care. There is the million green jobs plan and the Action Plan for Women and the Economy. While basic income was not announced, the ongoing support programs for individuals amount to a form of BI and give the proponents of it some hope that the issue is not off the table.

Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, a high priority for the government, faces growing cynicism from Indigenous Peoples and leadership, so it needs a major boost, perhaps with a comprehensive response to the reports from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls as well as introducing the United Nations Declaration on the Recognition of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

So moving on from COVID, the Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, especially in her role as Finance Minister is of course involved in all of the above along with Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos who makes the money flow, and President of the Privy Council Dominic LeBlanc who helps coordinate the government agenda. In addition, there are several ministers who have a lot of new stuff to do:
– Families, Children and Social Development Minister, Ahmed Hussen on national childcare and housing (both of which require provincial involvement)
– Health Minister Patty Hajdu, Pharmacare and the long term care plan (both of which require provincial involvement)
– Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna, Innovations Minister Navdeep Bains and Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, on a big green jobs strategy (working with provinces and municipalities)
– Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef on a new action plan on Women and the Economy.
– Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett Minister on the need to up their output on responding to the two major reports and making sure UNDRIP is adopted in good time, unlike in 2019 when it died in the Senate, and then implemented.
– A focus on combating racism involves Diversity and Inclusion Minister Bardesh Chagger as well as Justice Minister David Lametti on the legal system and Public Security Minister Bill Blair who has to drag the RCMP into the modern era.
– And should Basic Income become a thing, it is Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough who would lead that initiative.
– And lest anyone forget, there is still much for Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson to do to meet the Paris targets.

This agenda would suggest the government needs to go the full four years till October 2023 to get it done.

The expectations that Canadians have of their governments is confused these days. Operating a Parliament virtually is fraught with challenges, but this is where good leadership is demanded of all our leaders.

It would be useful if parties in parliament were constantly challenged by the media to find ways to cooperate and make things work, rather than dare each other to bring the government down.

The NDP badly needs to make national childcare a reality. There is room for the reincarnation of a Lester Pearson-Tommy Douglas era of cooperation for policies that will us another generation.

A version of this column appeared in the Hill Times, October 19, 2020