Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 21:21, 22 October 2002

The Prime Minister of Canada, the head of the Canadian government, is the leader of the political party with the most seats in Canadian House of Commons. As Prime Minister one has the right to the title of Right Honourable. In the early years, it was tradition that the British Monarch bestow a knighthood on any Canadian Prime Minister. As such, several carry the prefix "Sir" before their name. It is now illegal for a Canadian citizen to accept any British title.

The Prime Minister may be any Canadian citizen of voting age (18). As for all party leaders, it is not legally required, but customary, for the prime minister to be a sitting member of the House of Commons. (If the Prime Minister should fail to win his or her seat, a junior MP in a safe seat would typically resign to permit a by-election to elect the Prime Minister to that seat.)

A Prime Minister's elected term is for a maximum of 5 years, however he has the power to call an election for every seat in the House (a general election) at any time. By custom, elections are called 3.5 to 5 years after the previous election, when a majority government is in power, or as a de facto referendum if a major issue is at hand (the last of these being the 1988 election, which revolved around free trade with the United States).

In recent years there has been a trend towards calling elections in even less than 3.5 years if the government in power believes the conditions are right for another win, but this is considered unfair play in some quarters. If a minority government is in power, a vote of non-confidence in the House of Commons may lead to a quick election (9 months in the case of the most recent Canadian minority government, the Clark government of 1979-1980).

In contrast to the British government in which members of parliament have long tenure but Prime Ministers have relatively short tenures, the Canadian Prime Minister typically has a long tenure except in cases where there is a minority government.

The function, duties, responsibilities, and powers of the Prime Minister of Canada were established at the time the country was created as an independent nation in 1867 and were modeled upon those of the existing office of the Prime Minister of Great Britain. Over time, the role of the Prime Minister of Canada has undergone some modifications but he/she today has the most personal and absolute power of any elected leader of any full democracy in the world.

The power of the Prime Minister of Canada is such that he/she can and does shape the nation in their own image. All new legislation introduced for passage by the Parliament of Canada is the sole product of the policies and goals of the Prime Minister. And, with a majority of his/her members elected to the House of Commons, the Prime Minister’s legislation is always passed without exception.

As Prime Minister, and leader of the party with a majority of elected representatives, all new legislation presented to Parliament emanates from his/her office. This new legislation is referred to as a “Government Bill” and is designated by a number. The members of the governing party in Parliament, elected to represent their constituents, must always vote in favour of any legislation presented by the government. Once passed by the majority vote of the members of the Prime Minister’s party in the House of Commons, the legislation will then automatically be passed by the unelected Canadian Senate.

Although any elected member of the House of Commons may introduce new legislation of their own, referred to as a "Private Member’s Bill," it is an infrequent occurrence and has virtually no chance of ever being enacted. In the last thirty years, out of the thousands of pieces of legislation passed by the Canadian Parliament, only three Private Member’s Bills have ever been passed into law. And, none of these were significant changes to socio/economic matters affecting the country and each of these were dramatically modified in the process. Because of the time, energy, research and other resources needed just to prepare a bill for introduction into Parliament, very few Private Member’s Bills are ever undertaken given that they have almost always been dismissed out of hand.

Unlike the Republican system of government used in such countries as the United States, France, or Germany, an elected member of the Canadian House of Commons cannot vote in accordance with the will of his constituents. If any elected member of the Prime Minister’s governing party votes against any new legislation, the Prime Minister has the exclusive authority to expel that person from the party. A member of Parliament who has been expelled from his/her party will then sit as an independent member of Parliament with extremely limited resources to conduct their work and almost no procedural right to ask a question or raise any issue in Parliament. At the next election, the expelled member will not be allowed to run for the party again. They may run as an independent candidate but they will have no party money to fund their re-election campaign. As such, members of the governing party always “toe the party line,” guaranteeing that the will of the Prime Minister of Canada is carried out absolutely and completely.

Former Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, who more than any previous Prime Minister consolidated power in the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office), once derisively dismissed the elected members of Parliament as "nobodies." In 1998, during a break at a G7 summit meeting, the microphone of Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien was left open and he was heard to complain that President Bill Clinton of the United States was basically powerless to solve international problems (in this case a Pacific coast salmon fishing dispute between Canada and the U.S.) because the American President had no authority and had to answer to Congress.

In addition, and without approval or review by any other person or political body of any kind, the Prime Minister of Canada alone appoints the person(s) to fill the following positions:

• all members of his/her Cabinet who he/she may replace at any time;
• all justices of the Supreme Court of Canada
• all members of the Senate;
• all heads of Crown Corporations who he/she may replace at any time;
• all executive positions such as the head of the Canadian Safety Transportation Board, the president of the Federal Business Development Bank;
• plus approximately 3,100 other powerful government positions, the bulk of which the Prime Minister usually designates a member of his staff to appoint with his concurrence.

During the last few years, a number of Canadians and some members of Parliament with the courage to speak out, have begun to question the powers the Canadian Constitution confers on the Prime Minister, the insignificant and ineffectual role of elected members of the House of Commons, and the need to abolish or radically restructure the appointed Senate. A 2001 book titled the "The Friendly Dictatorship" by the Globe and Mail newspaper's respected national affairs columnist, Jeffrey Simpson, pointed out the potential dangers by detailing the near absolute power that one person holds as the Prime Minister of Canada.

The Prime Ministers of Canada

Other lists of first ministers:
Alberta - B.C. - Manitoba - N.B. - Nfld.-Lab. - N.S. - Ontario - P.E.I. - Quebec - Sask. - Yukon - N.W.T. -Nunavut

See other lists of incumbents