The First Mandate Letter Released
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As has been done in the past, it seems like the Premier will not be releasing all of her ministerial mandate letters simultaneously. On Wednesday, Danielle Smith published the mandate letter for Minister Matt Jones of Jobs, Economy, and Trade.
For those unfamiliar, mandate letters are a way for the Premier to provide a clear roadmap for their expectations of a Minister throughout their time leading their portfolio. It is also an opportunity to provide public insight into what specific projects (if any) the Minister is expected to oversee.
It also provides stakeholders with the roadmap to know if their issues will be on the Minister’s agenda.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the first mandate letter.
Develop new tax credits similar to the Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit for forestry/manufacturing.
Introduce the $1,200 Alberta is Calling attraction bonus for areas of labour shortage.
Design ministry-specific job-action strategies to encourage increase movement into skilled trades and professions.
Make it easier for regional airports to grow for the purposes of improving mobility and trade opportunities.
Reduce barriers for private sector unions to make charitable donations.
Unsurprisingly, trades and skilled professions will be a key focus for Minister Jones going forward. Although it no longer stands as an individual ministry, Premier Smith had created the portfolio of Skilled Trades and Professions after taking over the Premier’s Office - this is a clear continuation of that mandate.
With respect to the growth of regional airports, the mandate letter gives specific reference to Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray, Lethbridge, and Medicine Hat. Last term, there were many efforts made in the aerospace sector in Alberta. The Red Deer airport was the benefactor of $30 million from the province to upgrade their regional facility.
It is not clear if this mandate letter will lead to similar funding for these regional airports or if it will simply be about providing more opportunity for those facilities to initiate their own improvements.
There was also specific direction given to “continue growing Alberta’s cultural industries, including focusing on Alberta-made productions and supporting Alberta producers and companies in developing Alberta content.”
Of course, this one mandate letter shouldn’t be indicative of what the whole of government will pursue throughout this term. However, the reality is neither party put forward a comprehensive platform the way Jason Kenney’s UCP did in 2019.
This means you should expect there to be lots of new commitments being made that were not discussed during the campaign.
The remainder of the mandate letters should be released before the end of the month, but with Stampede in full swing, this could be delayed until sometime in August.
