(Photo: Justin Trudeau/Twitter)
KANANASKIS, Alta. –Justin Trudeau and his 30 ministers have arrived at a luxury mountain resort in Alberta for a cabinet retreat.
The prime minister says the retreat will focus on the “challenges and opportunities” facing the province, which is reeling economically from the plunge in oil prices.
He says it’s also a chance for his cabinet to take stock of what they’ve accomplished in their first six months in power and “all the hard work” that lies ahead.
This is the second cabinet retreat Trudeau has held.
The first, at a seaside resort in New Brunswick in January, cost almost $150,000 and the price tag for this one is likely to be similar.
But Trudeau says it’s important for him and his ministers to get out of the Ottawa bubble.
“One of the things we talked about a lot during the … election campaign was the need to get out and be strong voices for our communities in Ottawa,” Trudeau said as he and his ministers arrived in a chilly rain for the first meeting Sunday.
“And that requires us, MPs and ministers, to be engaged on the ground, connecting with people and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
The cabinet is to meet Sunday evening with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley.
Notley refused to comment upon her arrival at the Delta Lodge at Kananaskis, a spectacular resort nestled in the Rocky Mountains about 80 km west of Calgary.
But the premier’s office has said she intends to bend federal ears about the desperate need for a pipeline to get Alberta’s oilsands crude to tidewater and will reiterate her objections to Edmonton’s exclusion from recently bolstered Employment Insurance benefits for jobless Canadians in hard-hit regions of the country.
Also Sunday, the cabinet is to hear from several experts:
Management consultant Dominic Barton, recently appointed by Finance Minister Bill Morneau to head up his economic advisory council, which is supposed to advise the government on how to foster economic growth in the face of the collapse in oil prices.
Head of the prestigious global consulting giant McKinsey & Co., Barton has close ties with business and governments in Asia. He is to give a presentation to cabinet about “China and the global growth agenda.”
Michael Barber, one-time adviser to former British prime minister Tony Blair’s government, on “deliverology”—his approach to ensuring that governments actually deliver on their promises. Barber also gave a presentation at Trudeau’s first cabinet retreat.
Dan Gardner, co-author of “Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction.”