Talk:Cabinet of Canada

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Untitled
"A cabinet shuffle occurred on July 20, 2004."

Is 'cabinet shuffle' the right term for the reassignments in a new Parliament? Especially as this is now a minority? I'm not completely certain of the terminology, but I wanted to raise the question. Radagast 17:23, Jul 20, 2004 (UTC)

-- Sorry for the rather delayed response. Yes it is a shuffle because it is the same ministry. -- Jord 01:22, 7 Nov, 2004 (GMT)

Jay Hill
Should he be included on this page at all? He is neither a member of the cabinet nor of the ministry, the fact that his is a privy councillor is irrelevant as Martin's whip and parliamentary secretaries were such but were not included on this page (and rightfully so). Moreover, there is one privy councillor (Garth Turner) in the government caucus who has no formal role, as well as countless PCs in opposition. - Jord 00:40, 8 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Where should the other government roles go then? The role of the government whip and the strong tradition of party MPs voting in line with the decisions of the PM and cabinet doesn't seem to be represented.  I made a stub page Chief Government Whip, Canada.  There is also an inconsistency since the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (Canada) page lists the opposition whip.  Rakerman 16:32, 12 February 2006 (UTC)


 * There is not an inconsitency, sometimes the whip is in the cabinet and sometimes not. Mauril Belanger recently served as whip while in cabinet.  That said, the whip is almost always in the opposition shadow cabinet.  In terms of where to put the whip, perhaps a section on the 39th Canadian parliament page for the officers of each party would be appropriate. - Jord 17:37, 12 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Actually, Belanger was never in Cabinet while whip. While he may well have been sworn in as a Privy Councillor, as I believe also happened with his successor Karen Redman, he was not sworn into Cabinet until after the 2004 election, when Ms. Redman took over his duties as whip.


 * Untrue: "The Chief Government Whip will join Cabinet as Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, helping to ensure the representation of parliamentary concerns in government decision-making." - Jord 20:17, 12 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I stand corrected. I do believe, however, that this was the only time the whip has served in Cabinet (unless the role of whip was given to a Minister with an actual portfolio).


 * You may be right federally, however it has happened quite often provincially, particularly in Ontario. That said, what remains is that the whip does not belong on this page. - Jord 02:24, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

As of the October 30 2008 cabinet shuffle, Jay Hill is in a new position, formally called the "Leader of the Government in the House of Commons", or Government House Leader, but this did not come with any ministry position which I believe is the first time that the House Leader position has not come coupled with another portfolio, sinecure or not. According to Wikipedia's "Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Canada)" page: "The position is not legally entitled to cabinet standing on its own, so all Government House Leaders must simultaneously hold another portfolio." So since Jay Hill does not have the title nor role of "Minister" he technically and legally should not be a part of the Cabinet, but according to the Prime Minister's website of the cabinet as of October 30 (http://www.pm.gc.ca/grfx/docs/cabinet.pdf) Jay Hill is included with a title as follows: "The Honourable Jay D. Hill Leader of the Government in the House of Commons". Does anyone have any further evidence for or against keeping Jay Hill on this page, the Cabinet of Canada? As of now I don't think he should be up, but I will wait for others to comment before removing him. Canadianpoliticsfan (talk) 06:49, 31 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I believe we'll find once the notice of the appointment is printed in the Canada Gazette that Hill will, in legal terms, have assumed the position of Minister of State restyled as "Leader of the Government in the House of Commons," which I believe has been the practice since, erm, Valeri I think? Jacques Saada. The Tom (talk) 19:41, 31 October 2008 (UTC)
 * This is absolutely correct, and I believe the practice goes back even further -- to Don Boudria if I recall correctly.PoliSciMaster (talk) 00:58, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Names of ministries
Please note that just as when Paul Martin took office, Stephen Harper realigned and renamed some of the ministries; please use the correct and official NEW names. See these links to the PMO site for the correct names: List of Ministers, Backgrounder on departmental changes - Jord 20:10, 8 February 2006 (UTC)
 * We've stuck with legal names in the past, which are defined by legislation, not Prime Ministerial whims. The "Department of Human Resources and Social Development" quite literally does not exist until the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Act and the Department of Social Development Act are repealed.  The Tom 02:23, 9 February 2006 (UTC)
 * That is fine Tom, and I did not change that but "Canadian Heritage and Status of Women" and "Minister of ACOA" etc should be what we go with here. We are not talking about names of departments, we are talking about names of ministers.  It is worth noting that there is no Department of International Trade but we have a Minister of International Trade.  Also, I am quite sure that Anne McLellan was never listed here is as Solictor General but instead as Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, this is depsite the fact that she was sworn in as Solicitor General  and that the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness did not exist until March 23, 2005  - Jord 14:58, 9 February 2006 (UTC)
 * It should also be noted that under the provisions of the Public Service Rearrangement and Transfer of Duties Act, the Cabinet can essentially restructure things however they want. This is how the Martin government operated a Department of International Trade, despite the fact the the acts splitting DFAIT were never adopted.  On February 6, Harper's government issued an OiC that "pursuant to paragraph 2(b) of that Act, amalgamates and combines the Department of Social Development and the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development under the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development to be styled Minister of Human Resources and Social Development and under the Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development to be styled Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Social Development."   While, legally, there is no Department of Human Resources and Social Development, there is also no longer a Department of Social Development.  The listing and related articles should be updated.  On an unrelated note, Jord raises an excellent point with respect to the SolGen, and the article on the post of SolGen should probably be updated to reflect it didn't in fact dissappear until last year.

Ministers of State
I believe the section concerning Minister of the Crown vs. Ministers of State needs to be revamped and reworked. Ministers of State are not necessarily junior ministers. They are essentially a Minister whose responsibilities do not correspond to a department. The current Ministry has at least four ministers of State (some of whom also hold proper Ministerial portfolio). The current Ministers of State are Verner, Clement, Emerson and Chong, and there may very well be others.

Status of Department of Social Development
In the order in council here, it is shown that there is no Minister of Social Development, that Diane Finley is Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development styled as Minister of Human Resources and Social Development with all of the powers of minister of Social Development delegated to her without her actually being minister. - Jord 16:43, 10 February 2006 (UTC)
 * That is 100% correct. While there does legally remain a Department of Social Development, it is nothing but an empty shell.  It has no Minister, no Deputy Minister, nor any administration, all of this having been transferred to HRSD.

Right Wing cabinet
Just a comment. Harper's cabinet is (politically) right-wing, yet has anyone noticed the number of Ministers who are left-handed? GoodDay 23:28, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

Ongoing Saga of Social Development
I have again removed it from the list. My reasons are twofold. First, despite the fact that the Department of Social Development Act remains in force, there is no Minister of Social Development. The Act establishes the department and bestows authority for that department on the Minister of Social Development. However, the Public Service Rearrangement and Transfer of Duties Act allows the Governor in Council to transfer that responsibility to any other Minister. Harper's government did that on February 6, effectively eliminating the position. This power allows the Governor in Council to act notwithstanding any Act presently in force. This appears to be somewhat difficult for some to understand, but it is a fact. Secondly, even if you remain unable to grasp my first point, the list in the article is of the current Cabinet. Not current departments, not portfolios -- the current cabinet. Whether the portfolio is vacant or does not exist, the fact remains that the current Cabinet does not have one, and it therefore does not belong in this list.

Cabinet now in the Gazette
FYI - the official titles of ministers (verses what they are styled as) is now available as the cabinet is in the Gazette - Jord 15:27, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Titles of Senators
I added "Senator" to the names of Senators. Im not sure if Hon. Senator John Doe or if Senator the Hon. John Doe is correct, I've seen it both ways. Keeperoftheseal 22:21, 29 March 2006 (UTC)


 * A Senator who is not a privy councillor is know as "Hon. John Doe, Senator", one that is is known as "Senator the Hon. John Doe, P.C."... that said, you shouldn't include Senator on the table unless you are going to include the MP post nominals as well which I think makes it look cluttered. - Jord 22:30, 29 March 2006 (UTC)


 * I just did it to distingish which Senators were in cabinet, however, since the layout is awkward to say the least, ill take them out (if it hasnt been dont) - Keeperoftheseal 02:59, 30 March 2006 (UTC)


 * I think it makes sense to note which members of the cabinet are Senators. The tradition of responsible government means that the Prime Minister is expected to appoint those who have been elected to the House of Commons; Senators, obviously, are not elected, and do not sit in the House of Commons for Question Period, and so their inclusion in the cabinet is unusual and therefore noteworthy. -- Todeswalzer | Talk 18:44, 2 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I think you misunderstand responsible government. By definition, it means the Crown will name a government that enjoys the confidence of an elected house; it does not mean that government needs to be made up of exclusively members of that place.  It is hardly "unusual and therefore noteworthy" for Senators to be in cabinet; every cabinet since Confederation, save one, has had a Senator in it.  Please see here for a list of Senators who have served in cabinet. - Jord 18:51, 2 April 2007 (UTC)


 * While there is nothing out of the ordinary about having a couple senators in the cabinet, I think that many (or most) people reading this list would be interested in knowing which members were in the senate and which were members of the House. It seems very noteworthy even if common practise.  --Arctic Gnome (talk • contribs) 20:14, 2 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm not misunderstanding responsible government: part of that means having members of the government being accountable to the House, and obviously they cannot be accountable to the House if they are not even members of it. As per Senators being included in the Cabinet (that is, in positions that would normally be filled by an MP; Leader of the Government in the Senate is an obvious exception), this usually only occurs when the government finds itself in a tricky situation -- take the current Harper government as an example. Having no elected Members of Parliament from within any of the major urban centres makes it virtually impossible to balance the Cabinet without including a Senator from at least one of those regions. But in any event, it makes sense to point out the Senators, because anyone just skimming over this will assume (perhaps not unreasonably) that all of them are MPs. -- Todeswalzer | Talk 03:01, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Can-pol w.jpg
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BetacommandBot 05:40, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

PM first
Back on October 19, User:Miesianiacal decided to put the President of the Privy Council at the top of the Cabinet list, over even the Prime Minister, without any discussion. The Cabinet is not the Privy Council but a committee of the Privy Council and, both constitutionally and in fact it is the Prime Minister who is the had of Cabinet. I have reversed the order to put the PM on top as the PM is the first minister. Doctorite (talk) 22:22, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I am entitled to make changes without prior discussion, per WP:BRD, thank you. Yes, you're right that the PM is head of government, but, as the cabinet is a committee of the Privy Council, it seems odd to have the president of the larger body relegated in a sub-group of it to a status lower than the head of the sub-group. -- Ħ   MIESIANIACAL  23:24, 10 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Do you have any references that support giving the Privy Council President precedence over the PM within cabinet? It may "seem odd" to you but that is not a sufficient reason to make a counterintuitive edit. If this were a list of the Privy Council you'd have a point but this is a list of Cabinet members and the PM is the leader of the Cabinet (ie the First Minister) so his name should come first. Doctorite (talk) 00:05, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

What is the justification for the current order of ministers? It's not according to alphabetical order or order the post was created, nor is it in order of seniority by appointee. Is there a reference somewhere for the order? If not we should change it to either alphabetical order (following the PM) or date the position was created. I prefer the former since it would make it easier for most people to find a specific post. Doctorite (talk) 23:26, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

See also this list of the British Cabinet where the PM heads the list, not the Lord President of the Council. Doctorite (talk) 00:08, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

Order of precedence
The standard way of listing the Cabinet is in order of precedence (that is in order of the minister's seniority in the Privy Council ie the PM is first followed by ministers with the order determined by when they were sworn in as privy councillors). See and. The list in this page needs to be corrected accordingly. Round the Horne (talk) 17:19, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Table
I think that the table currently used is unattractive and not user-friendly. I propose replacing it with the following:

Thoughts? - Nbpolitico (talk) 16:33, 15 July 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
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Must be updated for Trudeau's gov't
As of Nov 4 2015 Trudeau's government is now in power.192.197.88.95 (talk) 18:02, 4 November 2015 (UTC)

It's been updated, but four ministers are missing. There are only PM + 26, but there are PM + 30. Where are the other four? GBC (talk) 04:21, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

Precedence Section
What exactly is the basis for Carolyn Bennett's precedence date being 1986? She didn't join the Privy Council until the Martin government. CaptainCanada (talk) 21:12, 4 November 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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Precedence dates
Whoever updated the cabinet list overlooked making corresponding changes to the precedence dates and they're now screwed up. Can someone fix them as needed? Precedence date is the date the individual was sworn into the privy council (usually the day they first became a cabinet minister or parliamentary secretary) and if a minister changes portfolio their precedence date moves with them.130.63.230.247 (talk) 19:47, 10 January 2017 (UTC)

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July 18, 2018 - Cabinet Reshuffle and New Positions
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-cabinet-shuffle-2018-1.4749976

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made significant changes to his cabinet, bringing five new ministers to the table and creating new portfolios for seniors, intergovernmental affairs and border security.

The retooled cabinet signals the government intends to ease trade dependence on the U.S. and bolster political forces in key regions in the run-up to next year's federal election.

In one surprise move, Bill Blair, a former Toronto police chief who has been the government's point man on the marijuana legalization file, was appointed minister of border security and organized crime reduction. He will also be in charge of managing the hot-button issue of irregular migration with asylum seekers crossing into Canada from the U.S.

Other new ministers added to the cabinet today:

Mary Ng, a former staffer in Trudeau's office who was recently elected in a Markham-Thornhill byelection, becomes minister for small business and export promotion. Filomena Tassi, a Hamilton MP, becomes minister for seniors. Vancouver MP Jonathan Wilkinson becomes minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. Pablo Rodriguez, who was serving as chief government whip, becomes minister of heritage and multiculturalism. Ministers with new or changed duties:

Dominic LeBlanc moves from Fisheries and Oceans to Intergovernmental Affairs, Northern Affairs and Internal Trade. Amarjeet Sohi moves from Infrastructure to Natural Resources. Carla Qualtrough, remains minister of public services and procurement and gets the added portfolio of Accessibility. Jim Carr moves from Natural Resources to International Trade Diversification. Mélanie Joly goes from Heritage to minister of tourism, official languages and la francophonie. François-Philippe Champagne moves from International Trade to Infrastructure and Communities. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Taishonambu (talk • contribs) 16:36, 18 July 2018 (UTC)