Former Conservative party chief of staff at the federal and provincial levels
The art of politics today is an ongoing variation of the simplest of school learning activities, "show and tell." Part entertainment, part substance. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet unveiling hewed to that script. Image-wrapped from start to finish, it was long on "show" and short on "tell" – unless you knew where to look.
What it tells is a dramatically new direction in government and politics in Canada, perhaps the most significant restructuring of cabinet governance since the short-lived 1993 Kim Campbell government.
The size of the cabinet (smaller) and the number of cabinet committees (10) means ministerial deliberation and decision making will be encouraged. Cabinet, not court government, seems to be back.
Structurally, significant parts of government were disassembled and fastened back with new names to boot. Next to unveiling a plaque on a bridge or a statue of a party elder, politicians adore naming things. In the old days, it used to be pure partisanship, now it is all about the brand.
That branding was on epic display during Wednesday's swearing-in. "Innovation" (a Paul Martin word to be banned, the Prime Minister's Office told me when I worked in the Finance minister's office) is back, replacing "industry" in a new department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. "Science" makes two appearances including a newly formed, standalone Science department. "Families" leads the new department of Families, Children and Social Development. "Persons with disabilities" shows up as part of Sports. "Refugees" is attached to Citizenship and Immigration. Fisheries and Oceans is now Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.
Each of these changes heralds new and different priorities from the Harper government. And that is the intention. Watch for a renewed emphasis on evidence-based decision making through an upgrading of science investment, and the return of the long-form census.
The most symbolic name change is from Aboriginal and Northern Affairs to Indigenous and Northern Affairs. It recognizes a new terminology that proffers a latent recognition of specific rights based on historical and cultural distinctiveness and ties to a particular territory. This may be the first step in breaking the logjam on First Nations' legal claims that have coloured years of native activism in Canada.
The most substantive name change, though, is adding the words "climate change" to the Environment department. Nothing could signal more clearly the new government's intention to act on this issue. Former environment minister Jim Prentice once showed up at a board meeting of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy to say that climate change was such a small part of his department's mandate, the round table should focus on other matters. That day is done.
Appropriating words and names can help gain the political high ground. But they also tell how a party and its leadership see themselves. More anthropology than political science, it reveals much about values and intentions.
This is readily apparent in the new cabinet committee titles. "Growing the economy from the heart outwards," as described by Mr. Trudeau, was ridiculed as feel-good economics. Suddenly, it finds a home in "inclusive growth" as part of the new cabinet committee on "inclusive growth, opportunities and innovation". Then there is the committee on diversity and inclusion; and the committee on open and transparent government. Each of these speak to a directionally different focus by Mr. Trudeau's government.
Priorities and planning, the most important committee, becomes the banal-sounding "agenda and results." But even that implies a different form of priority setting and internal accountability that will challenge ministers and public servants alike. In Privy Council Office parlance, this is all termed "machinery of government." That machinery just got more complex. But it is potentially more integrative, too, suggesting a desire to connect activities, such as economic growth, with outcomes, such as more economic inclusion.
Mr. Trudeau's cabinet structure does nothing to end the hand-wringing that expectations for the new government were unrealistically high. In fact, it does the opposite. But being the "un-Harper" will only take his government so far. To get an idea of where he will go after that, look deeper. His cabinet show had a lot of tell.