Briefing Paper assignment D Brown, Pols 321 Fall 2012

Briefing Paper assignment Goal: to prepare a briefing paper on one of the agenda items for the First Ministers Conference Week of November 12-16: sign-up to a topic. Nov 26: Briefing paper is due.

What is a Briefing Paper? Any document prepared for senior executives (e.g. Prime Minister, Minister, Deputy, President of Company etc.) to quickly and concisely brief them on a current situation and what you suggest they do about it.

Topics Canada Health Act and other social programs Equalization and the Territorial Funding Formula Free Trade Agreements and Foreign Investment Climate Change and Natural Resources Your paper can be on a specific, more focused issue within one of the four agenda items listed above, e.g. health care, carbon tax, etc.

Contents Every paper must include the following: Overview of your Government’s general intergovernmental strategy, including its approach to federalism Background on the Chosen Policy Issue, and the main options in play. Rationale for the preferred position of your government Proposed Strategy for the Conference (i.e. how to achieve your goals).

Briefing Paper style Short, clear sentences and paragraphs. Clear headings. Graphs and numbers clearly presented. Overview and Conclusion paragraphs that provide the key points up front. Based on research, with a bibliography. Overall length: aim for pages, double-spaced.

Potential sources for preparing briefing material Throne speeches Budget speeches and documents Premier/ PM websites (for individual governments) – media releases and speeches Council of the Federation website Media websites/ newspapers