By Pepper Parr
February 2nd, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Well – that didn’t take long. Her second day in the House of Commons as a member of the Liberal candidate and Burlington’s Karina Gould stands up and tells us that her mandate letter says she can forget about changing the way we elect our federal governments.
Cabinet Minister Karina Gould and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: Did she know what he was going to ask her to do when he invited her into his Cabinet?
When the Prime Minister invited Ms Gould into the Cabinet he apparently explained that he was giving up on the election promise to make the 2014 election the last that would be determined by a first past the post vote.
Ms Gould would have known about this the day she accepted the appointment.
Was there a discussion with the PM about this change in an election promise?
The story the public was given is that we don’t actually have an appetite for a change in the way we elect our Members of Parliament. “The broad consensus needed for this kind of reform does not exist” Gould told her first news scrum.
Earlier in the day Gould said in the House of Commons:
Mr. Speaker, our electoral system is the foundation of our democracy. We respect the views of Canadians, and consulted extensively with them on this important issue. We listened to Canadians, and Canadians are proud of our democracy.
We have always been clear. Major reforms to the electoral system should not be made if they lack the broad support of Canadians. As my mandate letter states, a clear preference for a new electoral system, let alone a consensus, has not emerged. Changing the electoral system is not in my mandate.
One wonders what all those adoring Liberals in Burlington think about the statements Gould made. To her credit she pulled it off – she was sent out to do the dirty work and that’s what she did.
The Rotunda in the House of Commons – did Cabinet minister Gould know that in a few short days after this tour she would take part in her first news scrum and tell the public that electoral reform was no longer part of her mandate?
It just wasn’t what the Burlington Liberals thought their girl was going to do for them. They expected great things from what was the youngest women ever to be invited into Cabinet.
It was just yesterday that the Gazette wrote rather glowingly about this newest member of the Cabinet.
“Changing the electoral system is not in my mandate” explained Gould.
When you are made a cabinet minister you get a letter telling you what is expected of you. We saw that expectation play itself out yesterday.
Unfortunately, I did not see any “exploratory positions” put forward by any of the parties in the House of Commons. I enjoy vigorous debate … but the initial framework was neither in place nor offered by any of the supposed WILLING participants. Forgive my bias, but I am quite happy with the way it has transpired. I have confidence in BOTH Karina and the Prime Minister. Should we now go to MUTUAL SHUNNING?
Trudeau’s mandate was based substantially on a promise that 2015’s would be the last First Past the Post federal election and it featured prominently in his successful campaign. Doesn’t that make it Gould’s as well?
So, kudos all around for everyone then, eh? Isn’t our democracy great?
Or is this one of those new-fangled alternative facts?
YES. An excellent direction & decision. I am relieved this decision was made.
PM’s new mandate letter to the Minister, the Hon Karina Gould PC M.P.
“Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government is abandoning a commitment to reform the federal electoral system.
A new mandate letter issued to Minister of Democratic Institutions Karina Gould says “changing the electoral system will not be in your mandate.”
Gould met reporters on Parliament Hill at 1 p.m. ET and CBC News livestreamed her press conference.
“There has been tremendous work by the House of Commons Special Committee on Electoral Reform, outreach by Members of Parliament by all parties, and engagement of 360,000 individuals in Canada through mydemocracy.ca,” Trudeau writes in his letter to Gould.
“A clear preference for a new electoral system, let alone a consensus, has not emerged. Furthermore, without a clear preference or a clear question, a referendum would not be in Canada’s interest. Changing the electoral system will not be in your mandate.” – CBC https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-electoral-reform-mandate-1.3961736
Kudos to the PM for issuing this directive, and not leaving his minister to twist in the breeze as some other PMs might have. That is leadership & accountability.
Kudos to Karina Gould for a sincere, effective, articulate and clear press conference. Watch this Minister, she’s going places – perhaps PM one day.
Disappointing. Looks like she’ll be busy with other things:
-Focusing on defending the Canadian electoral process from cyber threats;
-Enhancing transparency for the political fundraising system;
-Making the Commissioner of Elections more independent from government; repeal the elements of the Fair Elections Act which makes it harder for Canadians to vote and easier for election law breakers to evade punishment.
-Reviewing spending limits for political parties during and between elections;
-Bringing forward options to create an independent commissioner to organize election leadership debates, and improve Canadians’ knowledge of the parties, their leaders, and their policy positions.
-Enhancing openness of government and supporting a review of the Access to Information Act.
Full mandate letter here: https://pm.gc.ca/eng/minister-democratic-institutions-mandate-letter
Hallelujah! Finally, some common sense!
I don’t usually applaud governments for breaking election promises but this one actually makes sense. Clearly, there is no consensus on this issue amongst either parliamentarians or the public, and clearly, the value in leaving the existing system “as is” makes more sense than modifying it to accommodate an unknown.
Ms. Gould obviously has skills and an aptitude for engaging the public in broad discussions around public policy. Perhaps she can drive the agenda to focus on what should have been the centre of attention from the beginning; namely, ensuring that the public has an opportunity to provide input on the formation of innovative policy initiatives to address some of the substantive problems that confront this country.