Ministry of Health

Executive Office - Offers affordable health care for all, imposes suitable health laws, works to protect public health, and sets guidelines to protect the health system for future generations.

Minister of Health Mandate Letter

December, 2019

Thank you for agreeing to serve Woodlandian citizens as Minister of Health.

From coast to coast to coast, people chose to invest in their families and communities and fight climate change while keeping our economy strong and growing. Citizens of Woodlandia want us to work together to make progress on the issues that matter most, like making their lives more affordable and protecting the environment, moving forward on reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, or by keeping our communities safe. People expect their government to work together to deliver these results. The Ministry of Health plans to do just that.

It is more important than ever for the citizens of Woodlandia to unite and build a stronger, more inclusive and more resilient country. The government of Woodlandia is the central institution to promote that unity of purpose and, as a Minister in a government, there comes a time when personal duty and responsibility are to be completed to fulfill that objective. Now is the time.

Starting with a commitment to govern in a positive, open and collaborative way. Our platform, A Real Plan for Growth, is the starting point for our government. The Ministry will work with the government to deliver on its commitments. Other issues and ideas will arise or will come from Woodlandia citizens, government, stakeholders and the public service. The Ministry will engage constructively and thoughtfully and add priorities to the government’s agenda when appropriate. Where legislation is required, the Ministry will work with the leader of the government and the Cabinet committee on operations to prioritize within the Ministry.

The Ministry of Health will continue to deliver real results and effective government to Woodlandia citizens. This includes: tracking and publicly reporting on the progress of commitments; assessing the effectiveness of work; aligning resources with priorities; and adapting to events as they unfold, in order to get the results the citizens of Woodlandia rightly demand of the Ministry.

Many of the most important commitments require partnership with the Woodlandia government and Indigenous partners, communities and other governments. Even where disagreements may occur, the Ministry will remember that this mandate comes from citizens who are served by all orders of government and it is in everyone’s interest that the Ministry work together to find common ground. With the exception of The Prince, The Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, are the Government-wide lead on all relations with the nation and abroad.

There remains no more important relationship to the Ministry and to Woodlandia than the one with Indigenous Peoples. Significant progress must be made on supporting self-determination, improving service delivery and advancing reconciliation. The Ministry will determine what they can do in their specific portfolio to accelerate and build on the progress with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains a policy of openness, effectiveness and transparency in government. This means a government that is open by default. Which means better digital capacity and services for Woodlandia citizens along with a strong and resilient public service. It also means humility and acknowledging mistakes when made. Citizens of Woodlandia do not expect the Ministry to be perfect; they expect it to be diligent, honest, open and sincere in its efforts to serve the public interest.

It is also the Ministry’s responsibility to substantively engage with Woodlandia citizens, civil society and stakeholders, including businesses of all sizes, organized labour, the broader public sector and the not-for-profit and charitable sectors. The Ministry will be proactive in ensuring a broad array of voices providing advice, in both the official language and the defacto, from every region of the nation.

The Ministry of Health is committed to evidence-based decision-making that takes into consideration the impacts of policies throughout all of Woodlandia and fully defends the Rights and Freedoms of Woodlandia citizens.

The Principality of Woodlandia’s media and the Ministry’s engagement with them in a professional and timely manner are essential. The government ensures that all journalists in Woodlandia and abroad, ask necessary questions and contribute in an important way to the Ministry’s goals.

The Ministry of Health will do its part to continue the government’s commitment to transparent, merit-based appointments, to help ensure that people of all gender identities, Indigenous Peoples, racialized people, persons with disabilities and minority groups are reflected in positions of leadership.

As Minister of Health, you will lead the Government’s work to strengthen public health care, an anchor of Woodlandia citizens’ social and economic security. This work will include ensuring greater access to doctors or primary health teams, setting national standards for mental health access, supporting home care and palliative care, and implementing national universal pharmacare. Additionally, the Minister of Health will advance Woodlandia’s national interests in a more unpredictable world and lead Woodlandia’s contribution to address fundamental global challenges. This will require a principled approach that promotes Woodlandia’s interests including, human rights, international law and environmental protection. The Ministry will be responsible for expanding Woodlandia’s support for the rules-based international order, including by both reinforcing our engagement within existing institutions and placing Woodlandia at the forefront of global governance on emerging issues.

The Ministry will work with the government and through established legislative, regulatory and Cabinet processes deliver on top priorities. Such as:

• Lead work, with the support of the Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, and the Minister of Finance, to strengthen Medicare and renew our health agreements with the districts of Woodlandia in four priority areas:

  • Ensure that every Woodlandia citizen has access to a family doctor or primary health care team;

  • Set national standards for access to mental health services so Woodlandia citizens can get fast access to the support they need, when they need it;

  • Continue to make home care and palliative care more available across the country; and

  • Continue to implement national universal pharmacare, including implementing a national health care strategy to help Woodlandia families save money on high-cost drugs and other health care needs.

• Consider amendments to the Woodlandia Health Act to achieve progress on these priorities, including new accountability standards so that Woodlandia citizens can know what to expect from the public health system when they need it.

• Continue to ensure compliance with the Woodlandia Health Act on matters of private delivery and extra billing.

• Work closely with other orders of government, as well as substance use experts, service providers, first responders, law enforcement and people with lived and living experience in order to ensure Woodlandia’s response to current health crisis is robust, well-coordinated and effective:

  • Work with the districts on new investments that expand community-based services, build more in-patient rehabilitation beds, and scale up the most effective programs.

• Ensure that Woodlandia citizens have access to the medicines they need by taking action with manufacturers, districts, boroughs and other stakeholders to address shortages.

• Promote healthy eating, including continuing work to introduce new restrictions on the commercial marketing of food and beverages to children and establishing new front-of-package labelling and other similar acts.

• In cooperation with other orders of government and key stakeholders, address the rapid rise in youth vaping. This should start with regulations to reduce the promotion and appeal of vaping products to young people and public education to create awareness of health risks. You are encouraged to explore additional measures.

• Work with Parliament to study and analyze the possibility of national dental care.

• In order to realize and protect women’s sexual and reproductive health rights, ensure that Woodlandia citizens have access to the full suite of reproductive services and medications across the nation.

• Work to continue to implement the strict regulation of cannabis across Woodlandia. Your key priorities are public safety, responsible usage and keeping cannabis away from children.

• Support the Minister of Justice in working with moral court rulings, such as medical assistance.

• With the support of the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Wildlife, Forestry and Fisheries, work to ensure that the Agencies make timely science-based decisions to support the safe and sustainable use of things like, effective pesticide or antimicrobial resistance products in Woodlandia.

• Work with the Minister of Wildlife, Forestry and Fisheries to better protect people and the environment from things like, toxins and other pollution, including by strengthening the Woodlandia Environmental Protection Act.

• Working with the Minister of Wildlife, Forestry and Fisheries and the Minister of Agriculture, in your role as the Minister responsible for the Woodlandia Food Inspection Agency, develop a boat-to-plate traceability program to help Woodlandia fishers to better market their high-quality products, equal to the field-to-plate traceability program to help Woodlandia farmers to better market their high-quality products; while maintaining affordable food for everyone.

• Increase Woodlandia support abroad for human rights, international law and freedom of the press. In this regard:

  • Work with relevant Ministers to champion the values of inclusive and accountable governance, including by promoting human rights, women’s empowerment and gender equality, and respect for diversity and inclusion;

• Work with the Minister of Defence to ensure that any deployment of the Woodlandia Armed Forces aligns with Woodlandia’s national interest, multilateral commitments and the government’s policy objectives, including existing commitments in relation to the nation health interest of everyone.

• Continue to lead and enhance consular support for Woodlandia citizens requiring assistance abroad.

The Ministry of Health is encouraged to seek opportunities to work across government in the fulfillment of these commitments and to identify additional priorities.

The Ministry will work with its senior officials to ensure the ongoing work of the department is undertaken in a professional manner and that decisions are made in the public's best interest. The Ministry will work on the many daily decisions necessary to ensure the achievement of its priorities, the effective running of the government and better services for Woodlandia citizens, and will apply its values and principles to these decisions so that they are dealt with in a timely and responsible manner and in a way that is consistent with the overall direction of the government.

The ability of the Principality of Woodlandia, as a government, to implement its priorities depends on consideration of the professional, non-partisan advice of public servants. Each and every time a government employee comes to work, they do so in service to Woodlandia, with a goal of improving the country and the lives of all Woodlandia citizens. The Minister of Health will establish a collaborative working relationship with his/her next Minister, whose role, and the role of public servants under their direction, is to provide support in the performance of responsibilities.

The government has committed to an open, honest government that is accountable to Woodlandia citizens, lives up to the highest ethical standards and applies the utmost care and prudence in the handling of public funds, expected to embody these values in the work and observe the highest ethical standards in everything, so that Woodlandia citizens can look on their own government with pride and trust.

The Minister must ensure that they are aware of and fully compliant with the Conflict of Interest Act and Treasury Board policies and guidelines, and will be provided with a copy of Open and Accountable Government to assist as they undertake their responsibilities. The government recommends carefully reading it, including elements that have been added to strengthen it, and ensure that Ministerial staff does so as well. In staffing the offices, the Ministry will hire people who reflect the diversity of Woodlandia, and that will uphold principles of gender equality, disability equality, pay equity, inclusion, and others.

The Minister must give particular attention to the guidelines set out in that document, which apply to him/her and their staff. As noted in the guidelines, the Minister must uphold the highest standards of honesty and impartiality, and both the performance of their official duties and the arrangement of their private affairs should bear the closest public scrutiny. This is an obligation that is not fully discharged by simply acting within the law.

Also note that the Minister of Health is responsible for ensuring that its Minister’s Office meets the highest standards of professionalism and that it is a safe, respectful, rewarding and welcoming place for all staff to work.

I know I can count on you to fulfill the important responsibilities entrusted in you. It is incumbent on you to turn to me and the Prime Minister early and often to support you in your role as Minister of Health. Good Luck!

Sincerely,

His Royal Highness Prince Shawn,

Hereditary Sovereign Prince of the Principality of Woodlandia

*This Ministerial Mandate Letter was signed by the Prince in the Minister’s first official language.

Should you have any queries or require any further information please do not hesitate to contact us!

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