Canadian Legislative Issues

A Recap Of The Trudeau Administration, Year One

The summer political recess gives us an opportunity to assess the status and position of the current (not-so) new federal government, in power just over nine months now since October 20 of last year.

Elected on an ambitious platform with hundreds of campaign commitments, the Trudeau Liberals have been busy since October implementing what they see as the most important of those pledges: middle-income tax relief, high-income tax hikes, a new law on assisted death, and highly ambitious goals on climate change, to name but a few. Not to mention recent deals with the provinces on enhancements to the Canada Pension Plan and a deal to reduce internal trade barriers. The federal government has had a busy three-quarters of a year, with much more to tackle in the next three years of its mandate.

Obstacles remain, despite the two main opposition parties in Ottawa and their current searches for new leadership. As is often the case in Canada, opposition to federal plans usually comes from the provinces, not the opposition side of the House of Commons. This is particularly true in a majority federal government context, and even more so today that the current government is blessed with leaderless opposition across the aisle and a Prime Minister who continues to enjoy huge approval ratings.

Achieving consensus in Canada is famously difficult, and on climate policy in particular harmony will be impossible to find. Alberta, for its part, is charging ahead with its carbon tax while its neighbour to the east, Saskatchewan, warns of dark times ahead if such a plan is implemented nationally. Ontario, meanwhile, is attempting to implement a vastly complex and costly set of climate policies that could have an impact on every aspect of life in the province if fully enacted.

Despite rare breakthroughs on federal-provincial relations on CPP enhancement and internal trade in recent months, the federal government seems willing to let the provinces go their own way when consensus is not possible, as has so far mostly been the case on the climate file. But finding ourselves as we do in a rare era of frequent multi-governmental harmony on big issues, expect more such announcements and hand-shaking ceremonies between Ottawa and its provincial-territorial counterparts on a wide range of issues in the months and years to come.