Ontario premier promises more transparency, releases mandate letters for ministers

Premier Kathleen Wynne publicly released mandate letters to the province’s ministers in a cabinet meeting in northern Ontario on Thursday.

Speaking in Sudbury, Wynne said this is the first time expectations for Ontario provincial cabinet ministers have been made public.

“From my perspective, that is absolutely consistent with our commitment to be an open and transparent government,” she said.

“Anyone in Ontario who wants to know what it is a minister in the Ontario government is working on, what the requests are [and] what the plan is can look at the mandate letters and will get that information.”

Wynne said the letters don’t contain too many surprises, as they were written in conjunction with the ministers and the ministers’ offices.

Creating and strengthening partnerships

The mandates are outlined for each specific ministry, but Wynne said all the letters have themes and a lot of cross over between different ministries.

“One of the things that I ask of my ministers is that they work together,” she said.

“That they find ways to work together, to collaborate, to come up with solutions to problems that cut across the ministerial boundaries.”

The letters are posted online on the Ontario government website.

“We need to work together if we’re going to solve the challenges and … really grasp the opportunities that are confronting us,” she said.

Sault Ste. Marie MPP David Orazietti is the only cabinet minister from northeastern Ontario. He is the Minister of Government and Consumer Services and is being called on to improve Service Ontario and strengthen consumer services and protection.