Keywords Parliamentary Institutions

Formed and led by the PRIME MINISTER, the Cabinet comprises members of the legislature invited by the prime minister to head major government departments. With the expansion of government activity, Cabinets have increased in size from the original 12 to a high of 40 members (Prime Minister Brian MULRONEY's Cabinet, September 1987). "Downsizing" reforms have since somewhat reversed this growth (Prime Minister Jean CHRÉTIEN'S Cabinet, January 1996, numbered 25 members.) Choosing a Cabinet in Canada requires considerable artfulness (if not artistry) on the part of the prime minister, who must try to ensure that it represents the country's regional, linguistic and ethnic diversity. When a victorious party fails to elect MPs in certain regions, a prime minister often resorts to the Senate to fill out the Cabinet.

Because it has been Canadian practice to include all ministers in the Cabinet, the Cabinet has grown to an unwieldy size, and as a result a secretariat and an elaborate committee system have been developed. The secretariat for full Cabinet and its committees is provided mainly by the PRIVY COUNCIL OFFICE. The TREASURY BOARD is the only Cabinet committee created by Parliament. (An unusual feature of Cabinet committees in Canada is that senior nonelected public servants participate, although they are excluded from Cabinet meetings proper.)

Recent years have witnessed various attempts to address the problem of an unwieldy Cabinet. Prime Minister TRUDEAU relied on a number of co-ordinating committees, headed by a Policies and Priorities Committee (which he chaired), while his Conservative successors favoured an "inner Cabinet" to perform the same task of establishing government priorities and setting spending limits. Under PM Chrétien, the Cabinet is much smaller. However, following the British model, a number of "junior ministers" termed Secretaries of State are now added to Cabinet ministers to complete the Ministry.

All members of Cabinet are bound for life by the Privy Council oath of secrecy, which protects Cabinet deliberations and organization. Opinions publicly expressed by a minister are those of Cabinet, and ministers may disagree publicly with those opinions only after resigning from Cabinet and then must not reveal details of Cabinet discussions or documents. The OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT, which enjoins all Canadians, but particularly public employees, opposition critics and investigating journalists, from possessing, distributing and publicizing information deemed injurious to the state, has also been used to protect Cabinet members, who, in order to avoid embarrassment, can choose to pose as privy councillors to the Crown rather than as a government responsible to the Commons.

The secrecy surrounding Cabinet business is defended on the grounds that it is necessary for maintaining Cabinet solidarity, without which Cabinet may lose its hold over the legislature and therefore its right to govern. To dominate the legislature, Cabinet can rely as well on its control over the party. Parliamentary government is party government, and prime ministers have substantial legislative patronage at their disposal to ensure party loyalty, including appointment of Cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries and of chairmen of legislative committees. In fact, the control exerted by Cabinet over the legislature through the levers of party discipline has contributed to the outcry against Cabinet power.

The traditional capacity of the legislature to bring down the government and therefore the Cabinet through a non-confidence vote appears to be losing force, largely because the Cabinet has the power, through its legislative party majority, to prevent such votes, or at worst to refuse to accept their implications or consequences. The dwindling ability of the legislature to hold the executive accountable has had a debilitating effect on the disciplinary impact of the doctrine of collective and ministerial responsibility to the legislature, a doctrine upon which rests the whole notion of RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT.

The imbalance between the legislature and the Cabinet is exacerbated by the increasing use of discretionary powers, conferred by the former on the Cabinet collectively or on ministers individually, to legislate by order-in-council or by ministerial order. When added to the Cabinet's traditional role of initiating the budget and ensuring its safe passage (see BUDGETARY PROCESS) and its preparation and introduction of all major legislative proposals, this development accounts for the growing belief that Parliament is in decline. Many reforms for improving the legislature's ability to scrutinize Cabinet activities have been proposed.

It is because the bureaucratic infrastructure for which ministers are expected to be accountable to the Commons has become so enormous that the doctrine of ministerial responsibility has been discounted by the Cabinet as unreasonable. As a result, the problem of Cabinet dictatorship has been transformed into the larger problem of domination of both Cabinet and legislature by nonelected public servants. Any reforms designed to hold the Cabinet accountable will also have to address this related problem.

In addition to reforms to the Commons COMMITTEES, which may increase the surveillance capacities of the legislature, recent measures, in the name of FREEDOM OF INFORMATION, may alter the imbalance between the Cabinet and the legislature. To give better protection of citizen's rights, which are endangered by the exercise of discretionary executive powers, the office of OMBUDSMAN or parliamentary commissioner has been widely adopted by the provinces. Whether any remedy can now stem a tide running so strongly in favour of executive domination is doubtful, but responsible Cabinet government will not survive in Canada without such efforts.

Federal Cabinet, 1996
Photo of the Cabinet of the Liberal government, 1996 (photo by Sergeant Michel Roy/Office of the Governor General).

Author J.E. HODGETTS

Suggested Reading
T.A. Hockin, Government in Canada (1976).

Links to Other Sites
Parliament of Canada
The official source for current news and information about the Parliament of Canada. Also features online webcasts, Hansard, history notes and much more. Check out the useful "How Canadians Govern Themselves" paper from the Information and Documentation Branch.

First Women in Provincial and Territorial Legislatures
This Library and Archives Canada website is dedicated to pioneering women politicians in Canada. Produced in recognition of Women's History Month.

The Centre for the Study of Democracy at Queen's University
CSD is a non-profit, non-partisan organization affiliated with the School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University. CSD works jointly with individuals or institutions abroad on research projects of mutual interest that contribute to democratic governance.

Overview of the Legislative Process
An excellent guide to Canada’s legislative process at the federal level. Includes a comparison with US and UK systems. From the Bora Laskin Law Library, University of Toronto.

The Hill Times
The website for the Canadian newsweekly "The Hill Times." Features news and opinion about Canadian federal politics.

Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
The website for the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner (Parliament of Canada.)

The Canadian State: Documents & Dialogue
The Canadian State Web exhibition enables students to explore the various aspects of Canadian governance and to use a set of unique "real life" activities to create their own political party. The activities cover a wide variety of Social Science disciplines: History, Civics, Law, Language Arts, World Issues, Communications, and Canada in a North American Perspective. From Library and Archives Canada.

Glossary: By Executive Decree
A glossary of terms related to Canadian history. From the website "By Executive Decree."