Prime Minister Stephen Harper does not want to rely only on bureaucrats and his own political staffers when it comes to policy-making, and wants to involve the Conservative caucus more. In an effort to do so, he’s created Conservative Party caucus committees to advise ministers on the most important issues facing their ministries.

The announcement of the new caucus advisory committees came during the Conservative caucus meeting on the Hill two weeks ago. There are 23 committees chaired by the Parliamentary secretaries to each minister, consisting of six MPs and three Senators. Conservative MP Rick Dykstra was named the coordinator for the caucus advisory committees.

The committees will meet regularly to help develop new legislation and major policies before bills are drafted and before they’re presented to Parliament. Ministers are expected to consult the committees regularly.

This is the first clear sign that the Prime Minister is willing to open up his decision making process to his MPs with a well defined structure like the caucus advisory committees. There are also signs that his attitude will change further in the future.

It is also important to note that Senators are included in the committees. They’re Parliamentarians whose contribution has been extremely limited in the past but now they will be much more involved in the decision making process.

The Hill Times obtained the membership of the committees.

The Hill Times

Conservative Caucus Advisory Committees

Health

Minister: Leona Aglukkaq

Chair: Colin Carrie

Members: Sen. David Braley, Patrick Brown, Patricia Davidson, Cathy McLeod, Sen. Kelvin Ogilvie, Sen. Judith Seidman, Joy Smith, Tim Uppal

Public Works and Government Services

Minister: Rona Ambrose

Chair: Jacques Gourde

Members: Patrick Brown, Rod Bruinooge, Dona Cadman, Ed Holder, Sen. Elizabeth Marshall, Sen. Don Plett, Sen. Rose-May Poirier, Chris Warkentin

Status of Women

Minister: Rona Ambrose

Chair: Sylvie Boucher

Sen. Salma Ataullahjan, Lois Brown, Paul Calandra, Sen. Janis Johnson, Cathy McLeod, Sen. Nancy Ruth, Alice Wong, Sen. Keith Ashfield

Finance and National Revenue

Ministers: Jim Flaherty and Keith Ashfield

Chair: Ted Menzies

Kelly Block, Sen. Fred Dickson, Bernard Généreux, Sen. Irving Gerstein, Jacques Gourde, Russ Hiebert, James Rajotte, Sen. Bob Runciman, Mike Wallace, Andrew Scheer, Sen. Jean-Pierre Blackburn

Veterans Affairs

Minister: Jean-Pierre Blackburn

Chair: Greg Kerr

Members: Ben Lobb, Sen. Fabian Manning, Colin Mayes, Phil McColeman, Sen. Michael Meighen, Brian Storseth, David Sweet, Sen. Pamela Wallin

Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

Ministers: Lawrence Cannon, Bev Oda and Minister of State Peter Kent

Chair: Jim Abbott

Members: Dean Allison, Sen. Raynell Andreychuk, Sen. Consiglio Di Nino, Sen. Suzanne Fortin-Duplessis, Peter Goldring, James Lunney, Deepak Obhrai, Dave Van Kesteren, Barry Devolin

Industry

Ministers: Tony Clement and Ministers of State Gary Goodyear, Rob Moore

Chair: Mike Lake

Members: Peter Braid, Gordon Brown, Sen. Michael Chong, Sen. Stephen Greene, Sen. Michael Meighen, Sen. Kelvin Ogilvie, Dave Van Kesteren, Mike Wallace

Treasury Board

Minister: Stockwell Day

Chair: Andrew Saxton

Kelly Block, Rick Casson, Patricia Davidson, Earl Dreeshen, Sen. Irving Gerstein, Daryl Kramp, Sen. Elizabeth Marshall, Pierre Poilievre, Greg Rickford, Sen. Hugh Segal, Bev Shipley, Terence Young

Indian Affairs and Northern Development

Minister: John Duncan

Chair: TBA

Members: Sen. Patrick Brazeau, Rob Clarke, Earl Dreeshen, Sen. Dennis Patterson, LaVar Payne, Greg Rickford, Sen. Gerry St. Germain, Bruce Stanton

Human Resources and Skills Development and Labour

Ministers: Diane Finley, Lisa Raitt and Minister of State Diane Ablonczy

Chair: Ed Komarnicki

Members: Ron Cannan, Rick Casson, Sen. Jacques Demers, Sen. Linda Frum, Candice Hoeppner, Ben Lobb, Sen. Carolyn Stewart-Olsen, Maurice Vellacott, Jim Flaherty

Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism

Minister: Jason Kenney

Chair: Rick Dykstra

Members: Sen. Salma Ataullahjan, Paul Calandra, Sen. Nicole Eaton, Nina Grewal, Sen. Yonah Martin, David Tilson, Alice Wong, Terence Young

National Defence

Minister: Peter MacKay

Chair: Laurie Hawn

Members: Maxime Bernier, Ray Boughen, Peter Braid, Cheryl Gallant, Sen. Pierre Claude Nolin, LaVar Payne, Kevin Sorenson, Sen. David Tkachuk, Sen. Pamela Wallin

Canadian Heritage

Ministers: James Moore and Minister of State Gary Lunn

Chair: Dean Del Mastro

Members: Rod Bruinooge, Sen. Nicole Eaton, Sen. Linda Frum, Royal Galipeau, Nina Grewal, Sen. Nancy Greene Raine, Gary Schellenberger, Tim Uppal

Official Languages

Minister: James Moore

Chair: Shelly Glover

Members: Sylvie Boucher, Steven Blaney, Sen. Andrée Champagne, Sen. Gerald Comeau, Sen. Suzanne Fortin-Duplessis, Bernard Généreux, Tilly O’Neill-Gordon, John Weston

Justice

Minister: Rob Nicholson

Chair: Daniel Petit

Members: Rob Anders, Sen. Pierre-Hughes Boisvenu, Sen. Claude Carrignan, Bob Dechert, Ed Fast, Rick Norlock, Brent Rathgeber, Stephen Woodworth, Bev Oda

Natural Resources

Minister: Christian Paradis

Chair: David Anderson

Members: Mike Allen, Sen. David Angus, Leon Benoit, Richard Harris, Russ Hiebert, Sen. Percy Mockler, Sen. Richard Neufeld, Devinder Shory

Environment

Minister: Jim Prentice

Chair: Mark Warawa

Members: Scott Armstrong, James Bezan, Blaine Calkins, Sen. Daniel Lang, Sen. Dennis Patterson, Sen. Judith Seidman, Jeff Watson, Stephen Woodworth

Agriculture and Agri-Food

Minister: Gerry Ritz

Junior minister: Sen. Jean-Pierre Blackburn

Chair: Pierre Lemieux

Members: Sen. Bert Brown, Sen. Michael Duffy, Randy Hoback, Larry Miller, Black Richards, Sen. Michel Rivard, Bev Shipley, Brian Storseth

Fisheries and Oceans

Minister: Gail Shea

Chair: Randy Kamp

Members: Mike Allen, Blaine Calkins, Sen. Ethel Cochrane, Sen. Fabian Manning, Tilly O’Neill-Gordon, Sen. Nancy Greene Raine, John Weston, Rodney Weston

Transport, Infrastructure and Communities

Ministers: Chuck Strahl and Minister of State Rob Merrifield

Chair: Brian Jean

Members: Lois Brown, Sen. Doug Finley, Sen. Leo Housakos, Sen. Michael MacDonald, Colin Mayes, Blake Richards, Merv Tweed, Jeff Watson

Public Safety

Minister: Vic Toews

Chair: Dave Mackenzie

Members: Garry Breitkreuz, Shelly Glover, Phil McColeman, Rick Norlock, Brent Rathgeber, Sen. Hugh Segal, Sen. David Tkachuk, Sen. John Wallace

International Trade

Minister: Peter Van Loan

Chair: Gerald Keddy

Members: Dean Allison, Ron Cannan, Sen. Consiglio Di Nino, Ed Holder, Sen. Vim Kochhar, Lee Richardson, Sen. Terry Stratton, Brad Trost

PCO and Intergovernmental Affairs

Ministers: Josée Verner and Minister of State Steven Fletcher

Chair: Pierre Poilievre

Members: Harold Albrecht, Sen. Bert Brown, Randy Hoback, Guy Lauzon, Tom Lukiwski, Sen. Donald Oliver, Joe Preston, Scott Reid, Sen. Bob Runciman