December 16, 2021

On December 16th, the Prime Minister released his mandate letters for his 38 ministers. The mandate letters show that ending the fight against COVID-19 remains the top priority across the government. However, the letters also highlighted the need to fight climate change and “continue building a strong middle class and work toward a better future where everyone has a real and fair chance at success and no one is left behind.”

Excerpts from the mandate letters dealing directly with the dairy industry are listed below.

Minister of Agriculture mandate letter: 

  • Continue to protect supply-managed agricultural sectors, our family farms and the vitality of our rural areas, working with supply-managed sectors to provide full and fair compensation with respect to the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and making this determination within the first year of our mandate. You will be supported in this work by the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development.

Minister of Health mandate letter:

  • Promote healthy eating by advancing the Healthy Eating Strategy by recognizing that a healthy population is key to reducing vulnerability, finalizing the front-of-package labeling to promote healthy food choices, and supporting restrictions on the commercial marketing of food and beverages to children.

Minister of Environment and Climate Change mandate letter:

  • Require that all plastic packaging in Canada contain at least 50 per cent recycled content by 2030;
  • Accelerate the implementation of the zero plastic waste action plan, in partnership with provinces and territories;
  • Continue to implement the national ban on harmful single-use plastics; 
  • Implement the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, and, by the end of March 2022, bring forward an updated Emissions Reduction Plan to achieve a 40 to 45 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030 from 2005 levels. 

Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development Mandate letter: 

  • Support the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to provide full and fair compensation to supply-managed sectors with respect to the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

For more details, please consult the following link: Ministers’ mandate letters.