Here we go again! Following the federal election in September 2021 and the formation of a new Liberal government, Prime Minister Trudeau issued new mandate letters to members of his cabinet, including Minister Diane Lebouthillier, the Minister for National Revenue.
What is the purpose of these mandate letters? They publicly highlight the government’s priorities for the minister’s work portfolio. (In the words of the PM’s website: “Mandate letters outline the objectives that each minister will work to accomplish, as well as the pressing challenges they will address in their role.”) Ever since the Liberal Party formed a succession of governments after the federal election in the fall of 2015, Minister Lebouthillier has consistently been appointed to Cabinet as the Minister of National Revenue, overseeing the Canada Revenue Agency.
During that time, she has received four mandate letters from the Prime Minister. This has led to a proliferation of priorities: there were six priorities listed in her first mandate letter, thirteen in her December 2019 mandate letter, a further seven in her January 2021 mandate letter and now nine more in her December 2021 mandate letter. That brings the total to 35 priorities during her six-year stint in Cabinet. (Admittedly, there is overlap between some of the priorities.) When there are so many priorities, arguably there are no real priorities.
Perhaps some of these 35 priorities have been added as others have, with time, been achieved by Minister Lebouthillier. However, it is impossible to tell what progress, if any, has been made. (For example, what became of the September 2020 pledge to develop and implement automatic tax filing that was contained in the Minister’s January 2021 Supplementary Mandate Letter?) Although an official website was created which allowed the public to track results on the delivery of the various mandate letter priorities, updates were discontinued in June 2019.
These two shortcomings – the proliferation of priorities and the lack of any public reports on the assessment of their implementation – raise serious questions about the purpose these letters serve beyond their value to the government as a public relations tool.
With this important context in mind, let’s look briefly at the two priorities in Minister Lebouthillier’s December 2021 Mandate Letter which are relevant to the CVITP.
1The Minister shall “continue your work to modernize the CRA to provide a seamless, empathetic and client–centric experience, including by making information easier to find and understand, accelerating the use of digital tools, and enhancing the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program.”
This is an implicit reference to one of the priorities in her Supplementary Mandate letter of January 2021, in which she was instructed to “expand and enhance the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program”. At that time, we commented extensively on this priority here. Only 10 months elapsed between the two mandate letters so one should not expect there to have been substantial improvements in the intervening period. It is nevertheless somewhat gratifying to see that enhancing the CVITP remains a priority for the government.
2Furthermore, the Minister shall “develop and implement a strategy to support people filing their first income tax and benefit return, with a focus on youth and newcomers to Canada.”
While this second priority does not specifically reference the CVITP, it is likely to play a part in such a strategy given that youth and newcomers to Canada are among the clientele served by the CVITP. This is because these two groups include many low-income residents, especially in the first year that they file their income tax and benefit return.