The author is a former conservative strategist. He was a political adviser in the Harper government as well as in the opposition.
When he came to power in 2015, Prime Minister Trudeau wanted results. So he looked for ways to measure the performance of his government. He appealed to gurus, notably courting the political adviser to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Sir Michael Barber, in order to implant the concept of deliverologyor “resultology” in French.
Awarded without a call for tenders at the rate of $8,000 per day, his contract stipulated that he had to organize several training workshops for the Council of Ministers. The comparison with the character of Sir Humphrey Appleby in the series Yes Minister is easy to imagine.
Mr. Trudeau also recruited the former senior provincial official of Ontario Matthew Mendelsohn. Mr. Trudeau parachuted him into the head of a new department called the “Results and Delivery Unit”. He also appointed him Deputy Cabinet Secretary to the Privy Council. It is rumored that this appointment made waves within the Privy Council. Three months after her arrival, the Clerk of the Privy Council, Janice Charette was replaced, then appointed High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
After seven years in power for the Trudeau government, the “resultology” of this government is nothing more than a bad memory for the public service. The “results unit” has been abolished, and Mr. Mendelsohn is no longer in government. Janice Charette, on the other hand, is back as clerk.
From desire for action to reflection
The “delivery of results” involves consulting and thinking about strategies. However, the strategies under consideration are curiously still very numerous for a government that is in its third term. In the 2021 Liberal election platform, the word “strategy” comes up 74 times while “action plan” is mentioned 33 times in this document of some 100 pages. The will to action has been supplanted by a desire to reflect. This smacks of the wear and tear of power among the Liberals.
The inventory of strategies under development is striking. The Minister of Foreign Affairs was mandated to “develop and implement a new comprehensive Indo-Pacific Strategy” on December 16, 2021. The objective was clear: stand up to China and determine how Canada can be better represented in this region .
Early in his term, Trudeau was courting China for a free trade deal. The arrest of the leader of Huawei and the hostage taking of the “two Michaels” changed the situation. We are now wondering when China will invade Taiwan. A recalibration is therefore more than necessary. A new strategy is expected to be unveiled before the end of the year.
What is paradoxical is that a new Canadian ambassador has just been appointed. The position was vacant for nine months, after the departure of Dominic Barton. Jennifer May was appointed on September 23, but she lacks a major document in her suitcases: Canada’s strategy. A real nightmare for a diplomat.
Another strategy in development is that of critical minerals. Canada has the resources to become a leader in battery production. Federal ministers are currently consulting Canadians on this. Funding for this strategy was set at $3.8 billion in the last budget. We will see later what will be the content.
His absence did not prevent Justin Trudeau and his minister François-Philippe Champagne from traveling to Sorel to announce aid of 222 million to Rio Tinto so that the company increases its production of critical minerals. The company will invest 537 million US dollars. What good is waiting for a strategy when you can get a check right away.
The Liberal platform also contains a strategy to “establish a leading-edge Canadian research organization, bridging public and private research that helps develop Canadian technology and capabilities in promising areas.” “. It is difficult to find a more general definition. To give it a little more bite, we compare this new organization with a budget of two billion to the model of military research of the United States (DARPA). On October 6, the government launched an Advisory Committee on the Federal Research Support System. We remain on our hunger.
Budget 2022 also contains a national defense strategy update. Last I heard, the review is still ongoing.
Think again and doubt
There is a strategy that the Liberals refuse to even consider. On February 7, Quebec announced the Quebec Aerospace Strategy Horizon 2026, with funding of $334 million. On the federal side, the 2021 budget announced 2 billion. The problem is that there is no federal aerospace strategy. The Canadian association is calling for one, as are the unions. Tabled in 2019, the report chaired by Jean Charest has still not been the subject of a strategy.
It would be wrong to say that all the government’s strategies are in the making. There is (at least) one that was released in 2020 following the report of Canada’s Industrial Strategy Council, chaired by former Desjardins executive Monique Leroux. In January 2022, Mme Leroux made the following remark in Deals ; “we have the ingredients, but we don’t cook”. The title of the article was unequivocal: “Canada is still far from having a real industrial strategy”. It’s nice to have an industrial strategy, but you still have to use it.
In 2013, Mr. Trudeau said he admired China, whose model allowed him to act and recover its economy very quickly. There is one thing that must be given to the regime in Beijing, they have very effective five-year economic plans. In Canada, we tend to have thinking strategies, and we spend without even needing a five-year plan. Justin Trudeau must tell himself that, in this way, he acts faster than the Chinese communist regime.
It makes you wonder if the Trudeau government is really in the cockpit at the controls of the plane. And if he is, is he flying by sight or by instruments? Unless Justin Trudeau is in a glider? In any case, he is in no hurry to “deliver” his strategies. We almost regret the time of “resultology”. The current situation is reminiscent of Sir Humphrey’s advice: “don’t confuse lethargy with strategy”. Especially with so many strategies waiting.