Eleanor Fast
Executive Director

Nature Canada congratulates Prime Minister Trudeau on making the mandate letters of all the Cabinet Ministers public for the first time. This means that all Canadians can see what each Minister’s goals are. But how will this make a difference to Nature Canada’s work?

Nature Canada meets regularly with Ministers from nature-related departments, as well as senior civil servants. Knowing what the Minister’s and department’s goals are is important: it allows us to suggest ways Nature Canada can help the government achieve our mutual goals of protecting and celebrating nature; and it allows us to hold the Minister to account if they aren’t reaching their goals. We hope it will make engaging with government more transparent and effective. I’m already wondering how we worked for so long without seeing the Ministers’ mandate letters!

A couple of specific examples of why seeing the mandate letters is important to Nature Canada’s work are:

Photo of a Caribou

On environmental assessment. Stephen Hazell, Director of Conservation, is  spearheading an important initiative on helping the new government think through options for improving the environmental assessment process. Nature Canada has believed for a long time that EA needs strengthening, and was vocal before, during and after the election. We’re pleased to see the government listened. In fact, we see that environmental assessment is a priority for several ministers including the Minister of Environment and Climate Change; the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, the Minister of Natural Resources, and the Minister of Science. Seeing the mandate letters helps Nature Canada in
our work because we can ensure we reach out to all the relevant departments to push for the highest standards in environmental assessment.

On protected areas. Nature Canada supports Canada’s commitment to the Aichi targets to protect 17% of Canada’s land, and 10% of our oceans by 2020. We are pleased that the Minister of Environment and Climate Change’s mandate letter includes working to protect 10% of oceans. But where is the instruction to protect 17% of Canada’s land? It is conspicuous by its absence! If we couldn’t see the letters we wouldn’t know it wasn’t there, so seeing the letter is valuable. We will be asking the Minister to publicly confirm her commitment to the Aichi targets.

That’s just a couple of examples of why the mandate letters are important to Nature Canada, there are many more on species at risk, National Wildlife Areas, and the National Energy Board to name just three. If you enjoy policy discussions why not take a moment to read of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change’s mandate letter for yourself. Are the issues you care most about reflected in it? I’d love to hear from you.