Cabinet of Canada
Cabinet of Canada Cabinet du Canada | |
![]() Lesser arms of the Canadian Republic | |
Established | 9 September 1864 |
State | ![]() |
Type | Executive government |
Chairperson | Prime Minister of Canada |
Headquarters | Privy Council Building 80 Wellington St Ottawa CDM |
Appointed by | President of Canada |
Responsible to | Parliament of Canada |
The Cabinet of Canada (French: Cabinet du Canada) is the highest executive body of the Canadian federal government, led by the Prime Minister of Canada (the Canadian head of government at the federal level). The Cabinet of Canada consists of the Prime Minister (who chairs the Cabinet), the Deputy Prime Minister, the Attorney General of Canada and his deputy, the Solicitor General, the Cabinet Secretary of Canada, and the multiple ministers in charge of the federal government's many executive departments (see below), as well as chairpersons of other agencies and executive committees attached to the Cabinet.
All members of the Cabinet of Canada are directly answerable to the Prime Minister, typically via the Deputy Prime Minister, who categorises all information and data received from Cabinet members (whether in electronic, written or oral form, the last including both in-person dialogue/speech and phone calls) into three main categories: 1) "urgent" – forward immediately to Prime Minister (PM) and await PM's decision; 2) "important" – take executive action if/as required on behalf of PM, then compile a dossier which includes both the original info acted upon (properly organised) and a detailed report on those actions taken and the resultant success(es), failure(s), and ultimate change(s); and 3) "least concern/irrelevant" – have any issue resolved if one does exist, preferably by appropriate Cabinet ministry/agency rather than personally, but do not bother writing anything about the initial concern, solution chosen and the result, beyond a simple summary.
Cabinet members are officially appointed by the President of Canada on advice of the Prime Minister, meaning the Prime Minister, after choosing his/her preferred cabinet, nominates the listed individuals to their respective posts, who only actually take office and thus realise the nominated cabinet upon Official appointment by the President. While the President does, according to the constitution, reserve the right to reject specific nominated cabinet members or even the whole cabinet outright, this has virtually never happened, with presidential confirmation of government a de facto formality, despite being de jure an actual legal requirement. The constitution also gives the President the power to unilaterally dismiss cabinet members, an entire cabinet, the Deputy Prime Minister, and/or even the Prime Minister, via a simple executive order. As above, however, this is essentially unheard of, with such actions, despite being constitutional, likely to cause significant political controversy.
Cabinet membership[edit | edit source]
Executive office[edit | edit source]
# | Office | Incumbent |
---|---|---|
1) | Prime Minister of Canada | Anna Di Carlo |
2) | Deputy Prime Minister | Rose Parker |