1. Pols 342 Briefing the Cabinet Douglas Brown St. Francis Xavier University March 2008

2. Briefing the Cabinet: Outline Part One: Overview of Assignment Overview of Assignment Choosing Issues for Cabinet Decision Choosing Issues for Cabinet Decision Dividing into Teams Dividing into Teams Presenting your case Presenting your case Policy analysis paper Policy analysis paper Part Two: How Cabinet Memorandum and Briefing works How Cabinet Memorandum and Briefing works

3. Overview of the Assignment Student teams will present a briefing to cabinet Rest of class will ask questions, vote on recommendations Two weeks later, individual team members must each pass in a policy analysis paper Presentation mark worth 20 percent plus another 5 percent for attendance in the next 4 and a half weeks Individual papers worth another 20 percent of final mark.

4. Briefing Team Presentations: Purpose To learn by doing about policy decision- making in government To apply policy analysis to specific cases To promote class involvement and discussion To learn and apply team skills To make effective presentations

5. Team Process – preparation Select members and date..sign-up sheet Decide on policy topic Team members meet to organize their work Research the issues Decide on who is to present what Main topic Main topic Parliamentary strategy Parliamentary strategy Communications strategy Communications strategy Prepare presentation

6. In-class process Team makes presentation Devil’s advocate presents remarks Followed by discussion between the Cabinet (i.e. the rest of us) and the presenting team Cabinet votes on the team recommendation Cabinet members provide Prime Minister D. Brown with a confidential note on team’s presentation and content

7. Team presentation guidelines Maximum presentation length = 25 minutes Use slides or other forms of overheads, OR Handouts (If handouts, bring enough copies for cabinet, i.e 30 copies) Presentations to indicate clearly upfront: Title of Memorandum Title of Memorandum Summary of Issue (1-2 sentences) Summary of Issue (1-2 sentences) Key recommendation to Cabinet Key recommendation to Cabinet

8. Contents of Team Presentations Brief policy history Rationale for proposal Horizontal considerations if any (e.g. fed- prov relations, foreign relations, legal risks, etc.) Alternatives considered and recommendations to cabinet Parliamentary strategy Communications strategy

9. Devil’s Advocate Comments Do own research and analysis Get a summary (or whole presentation) from briefing team on the day of presentation (to be provided no later than 3 hours before). Maximum five minutes presentation Comments to include: appraisal of the policy rationale appraisal of the policy rationale analysis of the Briefing team’s alternatives analysis of the Briefing team’s alternatives assessment of the recommendation, and your advice to Cabinet in that regard (agree/disagree). assessment of the recommendation, and your advice to Cabinet in that regard (agree/disagree).

10. Post-presentation assignment Each student responsible for a policy analysis paper (worth 20 percent) To be based on some aspect of the presentation 2000-2500 words, or about 10 pages Due within two weeks after presentation

11. Team topics last year Environment – Green Plan Health care Democratic Reform Immigration Marijuana regulation NAFTA

12. Potential Briefing Topics Agriculture and food prices Industry support in recession NAFTA renegotiation Aboriginal self-govt/ Kelowna Accord Carbon taxes Post-Kyoto negotiations Arctic sovereignty Afghanistan Child care Immigration Marijuana legalization Olympic games Cross-border security and access Post-secondary education funding Sustainable health care

13. How Cabinet Briefing Works For formal decisions, there is always a paper trail (even if sometimes ignored). But convincing cabinet also requires oral briefing. Oral briefing usually done at committee level (and dry-runs within department). Cabinet memorandums are the tip of the iceberg in terms of policy analysis.

14. What’s in the Cabinet Memorandum? Detailed policy rationale Policy alternatives A required checklist of related considerations (see handout) Assessment of risks Implementation issues: accountability for results, financial, human resources A specific recommendation from among the alternatives

15. More about the Cabinet memo Always has a specific sponsoring Minister Goes first to the appropriate Cabinet committee, then to full cabinet Prepared according to an established format Format often includes separate memoranda on: Parliamentary strategy Parliamentary strategy Communications strategy Communications strategy