Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
Deputy Prime Minister of Canada | |
---|---|
Vice-première ministre du Canada | |
advice of the prime minister | |
Term length | At His Majesty's pleasure |
Inaugural holder | Allan MacEachen |
Formation | September 16, 1977 |
Salary | CA$299,900 (2024)[NB 1][4] |
Website | deputypm |
The deputy prime minister of Canada (
Chrystia Freeland is the tenth and current deputy prime minister of Canada, having assumed the role on November 20, 2019. She serves concurrently as the minister of finance, and was the minister of foreign affairs before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau elevated her to the position of deputy prime minister following the 2019 federal election.[5] The post was vacant from 2006 to 2019.
The deputy prime minister should not be confused with the position of the clerk of the Privy Council, who is effectively the deputy minister (the senior civil servant in a department) of the prime minister's department (which is the Privy Council Office).
History
The position of deputy prime minister was created by
Joe Clark's government did not have a deputy prime minister. Similarly, Prime Minister Stephen Harper did not designate a deputy prime minister,[7] nor did Prime Minister Justin Trudeau until the appointment of Chrystia Freeland in his second mandate.[8] Prior to Freeland's appointment, Canada's most recent deputy prime minister was Anne McLellan, who in 2006, was also the first deputy prime minister to lose her seat in the House of Commons.
Harper gave special status in the line of authority to members of his cabinet: under an
Cannon seconded the
Similarly, no deputy prime minister was named in the first cabinet of incumbent prime minister
Following the 2019 federal election, which saw the Liberals returned to power in a minority government but being shut out of the western provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, Goodale was defeated in the Saskatchewan riding of Regina—Wascana,[14] while Leblanc was reelected in his New Brunswick riding of Beauséjour[15] but on medical leave due to recovery from cancer treatment.[16] The Liberals were pressed to respond to concerns about lack of representation in cabinet from the prairie provinces potentially driving sentiments of western alienation.[8][17] On November 20, 2019, Trudeau appointed Chrystia Freeland, who represents the Toronto riding of University—Rosedale in Parliament but was born in Peace River, Alberta and grew up in Alberta, as the deputy prime minister.[8]
Duties
The official duties of the deputy prime minister are to answer questions pertaining to overall government policy during
According to journalist Joseph Brean of the Postmedia Network, the role can sometimes be "a poisoned chalice, or a leash to keep a rival under close control" rather than an indication that the Prime Minister trusts the authority of the deputy.[18] For the political analysis magazine Policy Options Eugene Lang and Greg Schmidt describe the role as one of "soft power", in which a deputy prime minister only carries as much or as little power within a government as the prime minister chooses to permit them; the level of power is usually communicated less by the deputy prime minister's title itself, and more by what other roles they do or don't hold alongside it.[19]
One deputy prime minister, Sheila Copps, attracted controversy in 1993 after asserting that she was "in charge" of government business while the then prime minister, Jean Chrétien, was on a brief holiday.[20] After she left politics, she wrote that although the position of deputy prime minister is only ceremonial, "very often, the DPM's job was to protect the prime minister from the political damage that Question Period can inflict on a leader", further citing the experience of Erik Nielsen during the Sinclair Stevens scandal.[citation needed]
Succession
Unlike the role of vice president in some presidential systems, the deputy prime minister does not automatically assume the office of prime minister if the incumbent of the latter office dies or resigns.[19] Although they may serve in an acting capacity on a temporary caretaker basis to ensure continuity of government function during the immediate period of transition, the deputy prime minister does not automatically become the new permanent prime minister; rather, constitutional convention requires the governor general to consult the governing party regarding the leadership, and to call on a member of that party's caucus to assume the prime ministership.[19] No policy or convention precludes the deputy prime minister from being chosen as the new prime minister in such a scenario, but none assures it, either—the party caucus would be free to recommend any new leader of its choice to the governor general. Barring extraordinary circumstances, the governor general is expected to follow the wishes of the party, although officially they retain the authority to make the final decision. That being the case, no prime minister has died in office or resigned suddenly (except following his or her party's electoral defeat) since the 1890s, many decades before the office of deputy prime minister was created.
Extended notice is usually given when a sitting prime minister does not plan to lead his/her party into another election. Leadership contests to determine the successor to a prime minister are usually held during the final days of the incumbent's term, and are traditionally a lengthy and competitive process. In almost all cases, the outgoing prime minister hands over power directly to their designated successor, without any interim prime minister. By contrast, during leadership contests for the official opposition party, the leader of the opposition has often (though not always) been occupied by an interim parliamentary leader. The opposition party's deputy leader (assuming that post is occupied) is often chosen for this role unless they plan to run in the leadership election, in which case someone else would be chosen since it would be considered harmful to the election process if the interim leader was to be one of the candidates.
Legally speaking, any interim prime minister appointed by the governor general would not merely be acting on behalf of the prime minister, but would have the full powers and prerogatives of any other prime minister.
List of deputy prime ministers
Key:
No. | Portrait | Name Electoral district (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Other portfolios | Party | Prime minister Party (Ministry) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Term start | Term end | |||||||
1 | Allan MacEachen MP for Cape Breton Highlands—Canso (1921–2017) |
September 16, 1977 |
June 4, 1979 |
|
Liberal | Pierre Trudeau Liberal (20th) | ||
Vacant June 4, 1979 – March 3, 1980 |
Joe Clark Progressive Conservative (21st) | |||||||
(1) | Allan MacEachen MP for Cape Breton Highlands—Canso (1921–2017) |
March 3, 1980 |
June 30, 1984 |
|
Liberal | 22nd )
| ||
2 | Jean Chrétien MP for Saint-Maurice (born 1934) |
June 30, 1984 |
September 17, 1984 |
|
Liberal | John Turner Liberal (23rd) | ||
3 | Erik Nielsen MP for Yukon (1924–2008) |
September 17, 1984 |
June 30, 1986 |
|
Progressive Conservative |
Brian Mulroney Progressive Conservative (24th) | ||
4 | Don Mazankowski MP for Vegreville (1935–2020) |
June 30, 1986 |
June 25, 1993 |
|
Progressive Conservative | |||
5 | Jean Charest MP for Sherbrooke (born 1958) |
June 25, 1993 |
November 4, 1993 |
Progressive Conservative |
Kim Campbell Progressive Conservative (25th) | |||
6 | Sheila Copps MP for Hamilton East (born 1952) |
November 4, 1993 |
April 30, 1996 |
|
Liberal | Jean Chrétien Liberal (26th) | ||
Vacant[NB 3] April 30, 1996 – June 19, 1996 | ||||||||
(6) | Sheila Copps MP for Hamilton East (born 1952) |
June 19, 1996 |
June 11, 1997 |
|
Liberal | |||
7 | Herb Gray MP for Windsor West (1931–2014) |
June 11, 1997 |
January 15, 2002 |
– | Liberal | |||
8 | John Manley MP for Ottawa South (born 1950) |
January 15, 2002 |
December 12, 2003 |
|
Liberal | |||
9 | Anne McLellan MP for Edmonton West (until 2004) MP for Edmonton Centre (from 2004) (born 1950) |
December 12, 2003 |
February 6, 2006 |
|
Liberal | Paul Martin Liberal (27th) | ||
Vacant[NB 4][NB 5] February 6, 2006 – November 20, 2019 |
Stephen Harper Conservative (28th) | |||||||
Justin Trudeau Liberal (29th) | ||||||||
10 | Chrystia Freeland MP for University—Rosedale (born 1968) |
November 20, 2019 |
Incumbent |
|
Liberal |
Acting prime minister
This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2020) |
Prior to the creation of the position of deputy prime minister, a prime minister would routinely name a member of the cabinet to temporarily
Due to the routine and relatively minor nature of the role, few to no research sources exist to provide a complete list of everyone who was ever named as acting prime minister. However, John Diefenbaker's selection of Ellen Fairclough as acting prime minister on February 19 and 20, 1958, is historically noteworthy as Fairclough was the first woman ever designated.[22]
Senior Minister
Prior to the creation of this position, the position of "Senior Minister" was a ceremonial position used in a similar manner, heading the order of precedence.[6] Upon the absence of the prime minister, the senior minister would act on behalf of the prime minister.[23]
Portrait | Name Electoral district (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Other portfolios | Party | Prime minister Party (Ministry) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Term start | Term end | ||||||
Paul Hellyer[23][24] MP for Trinity (1923–2021) |
April 30, 1968 |
April 23, 1969 |
Liberal | Pierre Trudeau Liberal (20th) |
See also
Notes
- ^ Including a basic sessional indemnity of CA$203,100 as Member of Parliament.
- ^ When the position is held by a male, the French title is vice-premier ministre du Canada"
- byelection. Chrétien did not name a replacement during Copps' absence from Parliament. After winning the byelection and returning to Parliament, Copps was reappointed to the position.
- Leader of the Government in the Senate Marjory LeBreton was named the first minister to act for Harper in his absence. After LeBreton resigned, the Minister of Finance at the time, Jim Flaherty and then Joe Oliverwere named next in line.
- ^ Justin Trudeau also did not name a deputy prime minister during his first mandate, although Ralph Goodale had been designated to act for Trudeau in the event he became incapacitated. Chrystia Freeland was appointed Deputy Prime Minister following the 2019 election, in which Goodale was defeated.
References
- ISBN 2-89461-378-4.
- ^ "The Canadian Parliamentary system - Our Procedure - House of Commons". www.ourcommons.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
- ^ "Review of the Responsibilities and Accountabilities of Ministers and Senior Officials" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 5, 2019.
- ^ "Indemnities, Salaries and Allowances". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
- ^ Tonda MacCharles and Bruce Campion-Smith (20 November 2019). "Chrystia Freeland named deputy prime minister in cabinet shuffle". The Star. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
- ^ a b c d Ottawa Citizen, "A Heartbeat From The Top", Charles Lynch, 10 November 1982, pp.3
- ^ "What powers do deputy PMs hold? And where is Harper's?". CTV News, July 4, 2010.
- ^ a b c LeBlanc, Daniel, and Robert Fife (19 November 2019). "Trudeau appointing Freeland as deputy prime minister in cabinet shuffle, officials say". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ PC 2006-1422, available at http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/oic-ddc.asp?viewattach=15421 [full citation needed]
- ^ canoe.ca, May 22, 2011.
- ^ "Journals (No. 002)". .parl.gc.ca. Retrieved 2010-07-05.
- ^ List of Ministers to act for the Prime Minister in the event of his unable to perform functions of his office
- ^ "Political Notebook: An old family friend becomes Trudeau's right-hand man". The Globe and Mail, November 6, 2015.
- ^ Martin, Ashley (22 October 2019). "Election 2019: Goodale loses seat in Regina-Wascana". Regina Leader-Post. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
- ^ Canadian Press, The (21 October 2019). "Dominic LeBlanc thanks supporters for election win from hospital bed in Montreal". Toronto Star. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
- ^ Canadian Press, The (26 April 2019). "Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc stepping away from cabinet after cancer diagnosis". Global News. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
- ^ Platt, Brian (23 October 2019). "With Liberals wiped out in Alberta and Sask., Trudeau promises to do 'a lot more' to rebuild Western support". Canada.com. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
- ^ Joseph Brean, "What does a deputy prime minister do?". National Post, November 20, 2019.
- ^ a b c Eugene Lang and Greg Schmidt, "The role of deputy prime minister is not as powerful as most think". Policy Options, August 6, 2020.
- ^ Joan Bryden, "`I'm in charge,' Copps says: Alexander Haig echo pointed out by critics". Vancouver Sun, December 10, 1993.
- ^ "Ottawa concerned". The Globe and Mail, August 21, 1970. p. 8.
- ^ "As Acting Prime Minister Ellen Fairclough First Again". The Globe and Mail, February 21, 1958.
- ^ a b The Gazette (Montreal), "Hellyer Appointed No.2 Man To Rule In Trudeau's Absence", 1 May 1968, p.3
- ^ Reading Eagle, "Hellyer Quits Cabinet Job", P, 24 April 1969, pg.47