The Prime Minister of the Canada (English: Premium Minister off Canada ), the chief of the Canadian Government, is usually the chief of the Political party holding the most seats with the House of Commons of Canada. The Prime Minister carries the title the very honourable to life.

The very honourable Stephen Harper is current the Prime Minister; he was sworn in the February 6th 2006. He is the 22e Prime Minister since the confederation, his Conservative party having gained 125 of the 308 seats at the time of the last federal elections.

Qualifications and selection

The Prime Minister can be any Canadian citizen in age to vote (as from 18 years). He is of habit for the Prime Minister to be also a Député sitting at the House of Commons, though two Prime Ministers controlled since the senate: to sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott and to sir Mackenzie Bowell. If the Prime Minister does not succeed in gaining his own seat, a deputy subordinate in a sure district usually resigns to cause a by-election and to allow the Prime Minister to present and gain the seat to it. However, if the chief of the party in power resigns little before an election and the new chief is not appointed, this last generally awaits the behavior of general elections before aspiring to a seat with the communes. For example, John Turner was briefly a Prime Minister in 1984 without being appointed with the communes; roof of the irony, it gains its seat at the time of the election which ejects it capacity. The official residence of the Prime Minister is the 24, walk Sussex with Ottawa (Ontario). All the Prime Ministers lived there since Louis the St. Lawrence in 1951. The Prime Minister also has a second home with the lake Harrington in the Parc Gatineau, close to Ottawa.

It was formerly the tradition that the monarch decrees a title of knighthood to Canadian the Prime Minister. Thus, several have the title “to sir” (of the eight first Prime Ministers, only Alexander Mackenzie refused to be made knight). Since the Resolution Nickle in 1919, it is interdict for a Canadian citizen to accept a British title of nobility; the last Prime Minister to be made knight is to sir Robert Laird Borden, which was with the capacity when the Nickle resolution was adopted.

Mandate

The Prime Minister does not have a fixed mandate of duration. A Prime Minister is obliged to resign only when one party of the opposition gains a majority of seats to the House of Commons. If its party loses a vote of confidence, the Prime Minister can resign (allowing another party to form the government), but generally it will ask the general governor to dissolve the Parliament and to start an general election. If an general election gives to a party opposition a plurality of seats, the first outgoing minister can try to gain the support of another party to keep the capacity, or can resign and allow the party having gained the most seats to form a government. This last option was the practice in the recent years, but is not a constitutional constraint.

An election for each seat with the communes (an general election) is started at more (except in the event of war or of insurrection) the five years after the last general election; however, the Prime Minister can ask the general governor to start an election constantly. No general governor refused such a request since 1926 (see the Affaire King-Byng). Usually, when a majority Gouvernement is with the capacity, the elections arrive every 3 years and half at 5 years. If a Minority government holds the capacity, a motion of not-confidence to the Room can result in a fast election (9 months in the case of the minority government of Joe Clark in 1979 - 1980).

Role and authority

Since the Prime Minister is, with all fine practices, the member of the government of Canada holding the most capacity, it or it are sometimes incorrectly called the Head of State of Canada. The Head of the Canadian State is Elisabeth II, Reine of Canada, which is represented by the general gouverneure of Canada. The Prime Minister is the chief of the government.

The post of Prime Minister of Canada is not mentioned in the Canadian constitution, with share in a clause added recently necessitating it meetings with the Prime Ministers for the provinces. In modern Canada, however, its responsibilities are largely the duties which the constitution identifies as being spring of the general governor (who acts as figurehead). The function, the duties, responsibilities and capacities of the Prime Minister of Canada were established at the time of the Canadian Confédération on the model of the existing station of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. With time, the role of the Prime Minister of Canada evolved/moved, taking more and more to be able with the passing of years.

The Prime Minister plays a big role in most of the legislations adopted by the Parlement of Canada. The majority of the Canadian laws take their origins of the Cabinet of Canada, a body named by the Prime Minister mainly starting from the deputies of her own party. The Cabinet must have an assent " unanime" on all the decisions which they make, but in practice it is the Prime Minister who decides if the unanimity were reached. A deputy elected with the House of Commons of Canada is usually supposed to follow a rigid discipline of his party, and a vote against the line of the party can have serious consequences, until its expulsion of the party. The majority of the votes to the House of Commons are treated like votes of confidence, generating a climate of solidarity partisane born from a strategic need.

The Prime Minister (and his cabinet) control primarily nominations at the following stations:

  • all members of the Council of Ministers;

  • vacant seats with the Supreme court of Canada;
  • vacant seats with the Senate of Canada;
  • all heads officer of the company of the crown, that the Prime Minister can replace constantly;
  • all ambassadors with the foreign countries;
  • the General governor of Canada;
  • 10 lieutenant-governors of the Canadian provinces, and the three police chiefs of the Canadian territories;
  • more than 3100 other governmental stations; the majority of these nominations are delegated to a member of its cabinet.

As regards the very broad authority de facto on the Canadian Armed forces, to see this article.

One allots to the former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau this great consolidation of the capacities in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister (CPM), though an evolution in this direction can be observed through the Canadian history. The CPM includes/understands the political and administrative employees Prime Minister, recruits entirely with the discretion of this last. By creating a coordination of the communications with the other agents of the political arena, like with the central machine of the party, the CPM has a considerable influence. This can cause positive a productive Parliament, but generates in its turn of valid criticisms of a capacity too centralized in the majority governments and the CPM.

Critics of the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

Recently, certain Canadians and certain deputies started to wonder about the capacities which the Constitution of Canada allots to the Prime Minister. In particular, their goal is to find a means of changing the degraded role of the deputies elected with the House of Commons, of creating a parliamentary committee in order to revise the nominations at the Supreme court, and the need to abolish or reform radically the Senate. In a book published in 2001, The Friendly Dictatorship (nice dictatorship), the chronicler with the national businesses Jeffrey Simpson exposed the potential dangers by enumerating what he affirms being the capacity quasi-absolute granted to the Prime Minister.

There are limits with the capacity of the Prime Minister. A revolt of the cabinet or caucus will make rather quickly fall a Prime Minister, and even the threat of a revolt of the caucus can force a Prime Minister to resign, as what arrived at Jean Chrétien in 2003. The Prime Minister is also restricted by the Senate, at all ends feeble. The Senate can impose deadlines and obstacles on the bills, which arrived when Brian Mulroney introduced the Taxe on the products and services (TPS). In the majority of the cases, the conflicts arrived because the Senate was dominated by the members named by a preceding government. Above-mentioned the Prime Ministers quickly modified the composition of the Senate in their favor with a storm of senatorial nominations to ensure the passage of their bills.

The argument generally presented in favor being able it of the Prime Minister has report/ratio with the federal structure of the country. Canada is one of the federations most decentralized in the world, and provincial the Prime Ministers have much to be able. The constitutional changes must be approved by provincial the Prime Ministers, and they must be consulted for all new initiative in their fields of competence, which includes several important sectors like health and education. In the light of the regional forces like the Movement Québécois souverainist, some affirm that there is a need for a national counterweight to counter his pressures.

Former still alive Prime Ministers

Six former Prime Ministers of Canada are always in life. In order of most recent with oldest, they are:

Seul Martin always sits at the House of Commons. Christian leaves the Room in 2003 and Clark in 2004.

See too

External bonds

  • Cabinet of the Prime Minister - official site

  • Library of the Parliament of Canada

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