Lucienne Robillard is Canada’s Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs. What sort of stuff does that involve? Well, it took me a while to find out. That’s because, if you go to the Government of Canada website and click on “Departments and Agencies”, and poke around the A-Z listings, you’ll find links to plenty of interesting sites. Like, the online Currency Museum. Or the Portrait Gallery of Canada.
But alas, no link to the department of intergovernmental affairs. I guessed maybe it is because it isn’t that important. But I finally found it (Thanks, Google!) — it’s part of the Privy Council Office. Fair enough — but it isn’t like that is totally obvious.
Anyway, check out the sorts of stuff they are responsible for, on the left side of this site:
– The financial framework of the federation
– Intergov relations in numerous sectors
– the ongoing evolution (Hello, Nunavut!) of the federation
– the constitution
– national unity
Big stuff huh? Since the summer, the Prime Minister has been remaking this federation in numerous ways, to the point that many commentators have suggested that he’s implemented “Meech by stealth,” that he’s
granted sovereignty-association to Quebec, and that he’s turned Ottawa into the provinces cabana boy. That is to say, lots of action on the “intergovernmental” front.
So, what’s Lucienne been up to?
Not much.
Seriously.
Meanwhile, here’s what Dion was up to.
Surf around this site for a bit. It’s pretty clear that Lucienne has been doing sweet bugger all, at a time when this federation is going through it’s most fundamental changes in a decade.