Module 5: The Executive

Understanding the executive branch of government is crucial to understanding the contemporary working of the government. In Canada, understanding the executive is not straightforward since it has both a formal executive invested in the Crown and a political executive composed of the Prime Minister, ministers, and cabinet. The formal executive is mostly nominal, playing a ceremonial role, but does, or could, still exercise real power in limited situations. The actual power of the government resides in the political executive, but much of this is based on convention. For example, the powers of the Prime Minister and cabinet are not detailed in the constitution. Further, since the PM, ministers, and cabinet are elected, or in rare circumstances appointed, they are also part of the legislative branch of government. In other words, the executive branch is fused with the legislative branch. This tension between the formal executive rooted in constitutional authority and a political executive who wield power in practice is rooted in British history, reaching back to the Magna Carta. This is where we start, with the historical roots of the executive. Next, we look at the organization of the executive branch and subsequently the important bodies in support of the executive, including the Prime Ministers Office (PMO), The Privy Council, The Treasury Board, and The Department of Finance. This will allow us to look at the legislative branch in module six.

Figure 5-2: “King Louis XIV” – Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ALouis_XIV_of_France.jpg Permission: Public Domain.

Figure 5-1: “Section of Bayeux Tapestry” Source:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABayeux_Tapestry_scene44_William_Odo_Robert.jpg Permission: Public Domain. Courtesy of Myrabella.

What do we mean by the ‘political executive’? It is useful in this case to break the term down into its constituent elements. Execute is derived from the exsequor in Latin, meaning to ‘follow out’. Political refers to the government, the conduct of government, and/or to the policy of the government. Combined, the political executive means to put the policy of the government into action. Historically, the power and authority of the state were invested in the monarch and legitimated through the ‘divine right to rule’. This was most famously expressed, albeit questionably attributed, to the statement of French King Louis XIV, “l’état, c’est moi” or ‘I am the state’.  In fact, the monarchy embodied all three branches of government. The monarch made the law, enforced the law, and often acted as judge and jury. Many movements pushed against this concentration of power. Important to Canada is the evolution of the Westminster system of government.

This system has its roots with William the Conqueror in England in the 11^th C and the formation of an advisory body called the Curia Regis or King’s Council. The story of William is beautifully told through the Bayeux Tapestry. If you would like to see the whole story of William the Conqueror, you can see it here.

While originally the King’s Council was constituted by noblemen and the clergy to advise the King, it would evolve into the Magnum Concilium, or Great Council, and later what is now known as the House of Lords. Meanwhile, moots, or local assemblies, were formed to discuss local issues and to deal with legal cases. It would later evolve into the second British parliamentary body, the House of Commons.

Figure 5-3: “House of Lords Chamber”. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/uk_parliament/2701203046/ Permission: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Courtesy of  UK Parliament

Figure 5-4: “House of Commons Chamber” Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/uk_parliament/2701222056/ Permission:  CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Courtesy of UK Parliament.

Figure 5-5: “Westminster” Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/125701341@N07/35512377452/ Permission:  CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Courtesy of ilirjan rrumbullaku.

The powers of the House of Commons increased significantly in the 14^th century when it slowly began to take responsibility for hearing petitions and drafting legislation for the King to consider. In 1414, the House of Commons was able to insist that no bill should become an Act without their assent. By the 15^th century, the House of Commons controlled the monarch’s finances and were full partners in the formation of statutes or laws. In the aftermath of the English Civil War in the 17^th century and the restoration of the monarchy by the consent of Parliament, the path was set towards parliamentary democracy. This was formalized with the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in the 1707 Acts of Union. While the monarch still exercised considerable executive powers, these were slowly usurped by Parliament, with Queen Victoria being the last monarch to do so. What emerged was the political executive, the PM, ministry, and cabinet, exercising their powers via the formal executive, the Crown.

Figure 5-7: Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coat_of_arms_of_Canada.svg Permission: Fair Use.

Figure 5-6: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABritish_North_America_Act%2C_1867.jpg Permission: Public Domain.

The evolution of parliamentary democracy in the UK was highly influential in shaping the government of its colonies, including Canada. Like the UK, the executive is divided between the formal and political forms. As previously mentioned, the formal executive is constituted by the Crown, the monarchy, and the governor general. The role of this formal executive has become largely ceremonial, albeit with a few important roles left to play. The political executive is composed of the Prime Minister, ministry, and cabinet. It is this political executive that is tasked with carrying out the functioning of the state and executing the laws of Canada. While largely ceremonial, it is important to start with the formal executive since it is in its name, and with its authority, that the political executive acts.

In Canada, all executive authority derives from the Crown which is the highest constitutional authority. The Crown is the composite symbol of the institutions of the state. The Crown was first established in what would later become Canada by the French in the 16^th century and passed to the British monarchy in 1763 at the end of the Seven Years War. The British North America Act of 1867 states,

“the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick have expressed their desire to be federally united into One Dominion under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland…”.

Thus, all executive authority derives from the Crown. Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning British Monarch since 1952, is the personal embodiment of the Crown. Mirroring to a degree the relationship in the UK, the functions of the monarch are largely ceremonial. However, the Queen does retain prerogative authority, powers of the monarch that have not been bypassed by constitutional or statute law. Since the monarch does not live in Canada, a representative is appointed, the governor general, and is presented with the letters patent: the prerogative instruments defining the office of the governor general that the sovereign makes applicable to each governor general through their commission of appointment. Again, this is a practice that began under the French with the first letters of patent being issued in 1663.

Figure 5-10: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AElizabeth_II_waves_from_the_palace_balcony_after_the_Coronation%2C_1953.jpg Permission: Public Domain. Courtesy of National Media Museum from UK.

Figure 5-8: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ALetters_Patent_1947_page1.png Permission: Public Domain.

The contemporary governor general does represent the monarch but is appointed on the recommendation of the Canadian Prime Minister and cabinet. Prior to 1952, the governor general was British but since 1952, they have always been Canadian.

Figure 5-9: Source:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vincent_Massey_1927.jpg Permission: Public Domain.

The first Canadian governor general was Vincent Massey. As of July 26th, 2021, the governor general has been Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon  C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.Q., C.D. (this title is proper protocol but in the name of brevity, we will simply use governor general. To understand the post-nominal letters after Governor General Simon’s name, go here.) As an Inuit, Mary Simon is the first Indigenous governor general. She is also an accomplished broadcaster, activist for Indigenous issues, and political leader. In other words, the governor general has increasingly been chosen to be inspirational, ambassadorial and overall, a good representative and embodiment of Canada. The Prime Minister may use the governor general as means to promote particular agendas, like gender equality, reconciliation, or geographic diversity. Other conventions include alternating governor generals between English and French speaking Canadians. The term of the governor general is usually five years but is officially six and in case of incapacity, the chief justice of the Supreme Court will carry out the duties as required.

Figure 5-13: “Order of Canada” Source:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AReplica_Order_of_Canada_member_medal.jpg Permission: CC BY-SA 3.0 Courtesy of Dowew.

The duties of the governor general are divided between the purely ceremonial and a very circumscribed set of political duties. Ceremonially, the governor general administers the Canadian system of honours, the Order of Canada, the Order of Merit, and the Order of Military Merit, for example. Other ceremonial roles include: giving Royal Assent to bills passed by the House of Commons and Senate; reading the Speech from the Throne which sets the government’s agenda for each new session of Parliament; and representing Canada during State visits abroad as well as receiving Royal visitors, heads of State, and foreign ambassadors. More informally, the governor general plays a ceremonial role by representing the monarchy and the history that it symbolizes. The primary political duty of the governor general is to ensure that Canada always has a prime minister and a government that has the confidence of Parliament. To that end, the letters patent specifically provide the governor general the power to summon, prorogue, or dissolve parliament. In practice, these powers are only exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister. There have only been two instances where the governor general has refused the requests of the prime minister. The first incident was in 1896, when de jure Prime Minister Tupper won the popular vote but failed to win the most seats. When Tupper met Governor General Lord Aberdeen, he initially refused to cede power to Wilfred Laurier. However, when Lord Aberdeen refused to act on Tupper’s list of appointments, he chose to resign.

Figure 5-14: “Prime Minister Charles Tupper” Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ATupperUniform.jpg Permission: Public Domain.

Figure 5-15: “Governor General Lord Aberdeen” Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ALord_Aberdeen.jpg Permission: Public Domain.

Figure 5-16: “Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier” Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Honourable_Sir_Wilfrid_Laurier_Photo_A_(HS85-10-16871)_cropped.jpg Permission: Public Domain. Courtesy of William James Topley.

The second incident is the King-Byng affair in 1926. Liberal Prime Minister Mackenzie King held together a minority government after the 1925 election. A scandal in the Customs department led to a threat of censure against the government in 1926. Mackenzie King, perceiving a threat to his political reputation and career, asked Byng to dissolve parliament before the vote on including censure could be held. However, Byng declined and allowed the Conservatives to form government under Arthur Meighen. It was controversial and Mackenzie King loudly claimed the Government of Meighen was illegitimate. Meighen lost the confidence of the House and an election had to be called, which Mackenzie King’s Liberals won. The King-Byng affair would solidify the convention that the Governor General should act on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Figure 5-17: “Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King” Source:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WilliamLyonMackenzieKing.jpg Permission: Public Domain.

Figure 5-18: “Lord Byng of Vimy” Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ALord-byng.jpg Permission: Public Domain.

This convention would become relevant again during the 2008 Prorogation Crisis. Typically a governor general follows the advice of the PM when exercising their political duties, such as proroguing parliament.  However, shortly following the federal election, Prime Minister Harper made a controversial request for prorogation – controversial because Prime Minister Harper’s request for prorogation was made to avoid the loss of a budget confidence vote and the possibility of a coalition government led by the Liberals replacing him. In this case, then Governor General Michaëlle Jean did grant his request for proroguing parliament, conforming to the convention that the governor general heed the advice of the prime minister and cabinet. However, this decision had some critics, as it was not without tension with another critical duty of the governor general: to ensure that the conventions of responsible government are respected.

Figure 5-19: “Prime Minister Stephen Harper” Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AStephen-Harper-Cropped-2014-02-18.jpg Permission: CC BY 2.0 Courtesy of Presidencia de la República Mexicana.

Figure 5-20: “Governor General Michaëlle Jean” Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Micha%C3%ABlle_Jean_1_11072007.jpg#/media/File:Micha%C3%ABlle_Jean_1_11072007.jpg Permission: CC BY 3.0 Courtesy of Agência Brasil.

If the formal executive is constitutionally recognized but primarily ceremonial, where do we find the exercise of executive power and authority in practice? Answer: the political executive and the bodies which support them. The political executive is not mentioned in the Constitution, neither is the Prime Minister nor the cabinet. The constitution only requires the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada to be appointed to assist and advise the governor general. However, the body has come to be primarily ceremonial. Its membership is appointed for life by the Prime Minister and it is composed of current and past ministers as well as politically prominent individuals. In practice, the cabinet acts in the name of the Privy Council and the prime minister chairs the cabinet. The most powerful member of the political executive is the prime minister. The prime minister is not directly elected but rather is the leader of the party which forms government by attaining a plurality if not a majority of seats in the House of Commons. The legitimacy of the prime minister is established through that process of his or her party having won a plurality or majority of seats. This bestows a popular mandate. Canadian prime ministers do not have term limits and as the textbook notes, if you add up the terms of Prime Minister MacKenzie King (22 years), Prime Minister MacDonald (20 years), Prime Minister P.E. Trudeau (15 years), and Prime Minister Laurier (15 years), they in combination have ruled almost half of Canada’s existence since confederation – a total of 72 years out of 150.

Figure 5-21: “Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King” Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WilliamLyonMackenzieKing.jpg Permission: Public Domain.

Figure 5-22: “Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald” Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Macdonald1872.jpg Permission: Public Domain. Courtesy of Notman Studio/Library and Archives Canada/C-010144

Figure 5-23: “Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau” Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APierre_Elliot_Trudeau-2.jpg Permission: CC BY-SA 3.0

Figure 5-24: “Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier” Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Honourable_Sir_Wilfrid_Laurier_Photo_A_(HS85-10-16871)_cropped.jpg Permission: Public Domain. Courtesy of William James Topley.

On the other hand, Tupper lasted 69 days, Turner 80 days, and Campbell 133 days.

Figure 5-25: “Prime Minister Tupper” Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ATupperUniform.jpg Permission: Public Domain.

Figure 5-26: “Prime Minister John Turner” Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ATurner_and_Trudeau_at_the_1984_Liberal_leadership_convention.png Permission: Public Domain. Courtesy of Robert Cooper/Library and Archives Canada/PA-152413.

Figure 5-27: “Prime Minister Kim Campbell” Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sfupamr/14152885779 Permission: CC BY 2.0 Courtesy of Simon Fraser University – University Communications.

So what are the powers of the PM?

• The prime minister and cabinet:
  • Make and sign international treaties
  • Commit the state to war and sign declarations of peace
  • Set the legislative agenda of Parliament through the Throne Speech
  • Originate any legislation that requires or increases funding
• The prime minister:
  • Chairs cabinet
  • Dissolves parliament leading to an election
    • This is somewhat limited by Bill C-16 which set election dates as the third Monday in October in the fourth calendar year of a term
    • In practice, the prime minister can ask the governor general to dissolve parliament earlier. PM Stephen Harper did just this in 2008 after passing Bill C-16
  • Reorganizes the structure of the government including cabinet positions/portfolios, the creation/abolishment of bureaucratic agencies, creation of Crown corporations, and establishment of Royal Commissions
  • Makes appointments (technically the Prime Minister forwards his recommendations to the governor general but convention dictates this is pro forma)
    • Members of the ministry
      • The Prime Minister provides each with a ministerial mandate letter, setting out the expectations of the position
    • Parliamentary secretaries, albeit usually after consulting the relevant ministers and ministries
    • Senator, judges, senior staff of the public service

While acting in the name of the Crown, the prime minister and the ministry are the government in practice. It is important to note that the cabinet is constituted by the ministers appointed by the prime minister and acts in the name of the Privy Council. However, the ministry may be larger than the cabinet as it is composed of both full Minsters of the Crown and more junior minsters of state. This was an issue of contention in the first cabinet of Prime Minister Trudeau in 2015 as it appeared that 5 of the women in his gender balanced cabinet were in fact ministers of state. It appeared that gender equality may not have been achieved. However, these positions were upgraded to full Ministers of the Crown. In support of the ministers are parliamentary secretaries, often junior but promising Members of Parliament. Two important conventions guide the operation of the cabinet. The first is collective ministerial responsibility: that the ministers are held collectively accountable to parliament for the government’s actions. This means that behind closed doors, the cabinet can speak their minds albeit to a greater or lesser degree depending on the culture of the particular government. But in public they do not comment on policy until cabinet has produced a unified position and then they tow the party line. This allows for internal difference but external unity. This is crucial when dealing with highly divisive issues such as NAFTA or abortion. The other convention is that of individual ministerial responsibility: the personal accountability of minsters for decisions made while acting on the confidential information provided by public servants. Essentially, the buck stops with the individual ministers. When things go well, the minister can take the credit. But when things go wrong, the minister also takes the blame. This shields the public service from being overly politicized. It also gives the public, media, and the House of Commons a person to ask questions and hold to account if they do not like the answers.

The organization of the cabinet changes with every PM. Usually more transformational changes occur at the start of their term but changes can happen at anytime. In terms of size, Prime Minister Mulroney had the largest cabinet at 40 members while Prime Minister Laurier had the smallest at 18 members. The Treasury Board is the only cabinet committee that is named in the constitution and has existed since Confederation in 1867. The Treasury Board is responsible for accountability and ethics, financial, personnel and administrative management, comptrollership, approving regulations and most Orders-in-Council. However, of these responsibilities, the most important are the authorization of expenditures and allocation of resources. When selecting ministry positions, politics plays a large role. Increasingly, there is an expectation for the ministry to reflect the diversity that exists in Canada. Traditionally, cabinet would at least represent every province albeit weighted towards the larger metropolitan areas. As we have seen in module two, other and increasingly important issues of diversity have emerged, including not only geographical representation but also gender, language, and ethnicity. The 2015 cabinet of Prime Minister Trudeau is an interesting example. First, there are no ministers of state, meaning the cabinet and ministry are one and the same. Second, every province and region was represented. Third, there was gender equality. Last, the cabinet sought diversity wherever it could, including language, ethnicity, visible minorities, and the physically disabled. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has 31 cabinet ministers after splitting the position of Indigenous affairs into the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs and Indigenous Services. The current Ministers of the Crown can be found here. 

Figure 5-28: PMO Photo Source:https://www.flickr.com/photos/environmentcan/22242691923/ Permission: CC BY 2.0 Courtesy of Adam Scotti.

As part of the political executive, what role does the cabinet play?

• Cabinet acts collectively to develop policy, approve draft legislation, manage the finances of the state, and adopt orders-in-council
  • Orders-in-council are cabinet decisions arrived at under the authority of the Privy Council that carry legal force
  • This is called the decision of the Governor-in-Council: the application of the formal executive authority of the governor general as applied to the decision of the cabinet
• The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs sets the legislative timetable and chooses major government speakers
  • Ministers begin the legislative process via a Memorandum to Cabinet
    • Each memorandum is numbered and given a security classification
    • Memorandums are then sent to the Privy Council Office and distributed to Cabinet members
    • They are first discussed in the appropriate Cabinet committee
    • Finally, they are forwarded to the full Cabinet for determination
  • At the same time, the Prime Minister is briefed by the Privy Council and the Prime Minister’s Office
• Cabinet members are responsible for the departments of public service and bring departmental initiatives to cabinet for debate and possible approval.
  • Ministers are supported in this role by a staff which may include departmental employees that are seconded to their offices and hire professional policy and communications advisors

The cabinet is assisted by four central agencies which provide administrative support across all policies areas: the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Privy Council Office (PCO), the Treasury Board, and the Department of Finance. The PMO is the most political and perhaps the most controversial of these four agencies. The PMO does not normally include public servants but rather is constituted by ‘exempt’ staff: personal appointments of the PM, often partisan, that are not subject to the hiring procedures of the public service. The PMO serves the Prime Minister exclusively and serve in the interest of the PM, not the cabinet nor the government. While the Prime Minister is the head of government, he/she is also the leader of a political party and do need to think about re-election. The PMO provides support and advice to this end – electoral success. The PMO has existed since the time Confederation, but its role has evolved. The earliest forms of the PMO were primarily secretarial. In 1920, Prime Minister Borden increased the role of the PMO by including a foreign policy advisor. In the 1930s, Prime Minister Mackenzie King appointed a principal secretary to the PMO as a non-partisan advisor. Over time both this role and the PMO as a whole has become highly partisan. The modern form of the PMO came under Prime Minister P.E. Trudeau in the 1960s. Under P.E. Trudeau, the PMO was increased to about 100 officials. Later, Prime Minister Mulroney introduced the role of chief of staff. The current chief of staff for Prime Minister J. Trudeau is Katie Telford. In essence, the contemporary PMO provides the PMO with secretarial support, speech writing, public relations management, and policy advice as well as acting as a monitoring body for the PM’s political career.

The Privy Council Office operates as the administrative body for the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada. It acts as the secretariat for cabinet and the PM. Unlike the PMO, the PCO is staffed by non-partisan public servants who offer their expert advice to the PM, cabinet, and government departments. As we saw above, the PCO plays a coordinating role in the legislative process in cabinet. It was this role that was the PCO’s only function in 1867. In the 1940s, due to the increased pressure on cabinet, the PCO expanded to fulfill a secretariat role for the increasing number of cabinet of committees. In other words, they would help in the coordinating and disseminating of documents as well as meeting planning and keeping members informed of important activities. In the 1970s, Prime Minister P.E. Trudeau modernized the PCO to enhance central planning abilities, ensure coherence, and provide policy advice. There is some tension between the PMO and the PCO, with the former being highly partisan and the latter being non-partisan and normally staffed by public servants. Depending on the PM, the relative importance of the PMO or the PCO may shift but since the 1970s it has taken a central role in the political executive. The top position of the PCO is the clerk of the Privy Council who is at the top of the civil service. The full complement of the PCO is about 500 staffers who are divided into secretariats that shift to reflect the current government. As such, the PCO has significant resources, such as research capabilities, which are made available to the PM, cabinet, and government departments. There are currently 19 secretariats that can be found here. The PCO also takes on important roles in federal-provincial relations, especially anything requiring constitutional revision, Québec, the infrastructure program, constitutional planning, and Indigenous rights.

As we saw earlier, the Treasury Board is the only committee officially recognized by the Queen’s Privy Council of Canada. In the 1930s, the government sought to centralize financial processes in order to provide a coherent picture of the Government’s financial position. The Treasury Board was granted more autonomy during the Second World War. In 1966, the Treasury Board was moved out of the Department of Finance and elevated to a separate government department. The Treasury Board includes six Cabinet ministers, which always includes the minister of finance and is supported by the Treasury Board Secretariat. The first primary function of the Treasury Board is to review government expenditures. This entails approving the annual budgets of government departments. An important goal of approving the departmental budgets is to fit individual budgets into an overall framework that fits with the PM’s priorities. As such, there is very close coordination between the Treasury Board and the PM. The second primary function is the management of the civil service personnel.

The Department of Finance shares some of the budgetary concerns of the Treasury Board, but its main function is to analyze taxation policy and monitor the impact of government policy on the economy both domestically and in terms of international trade and finance. In general, the Department of Finance undertakes economic modelling and forecasting to provide advice on how to best facilitate economic growth. This helps the cabinet, and the minister of finance, in particular, shape the policy goals and economic priorities of the government.

This module has accomplished three things. First, we explored the historical roots of the executive, stemming from the effort to constrain the monarchy in the UK and leading to the signing of the Magna Carta. Second, we looked at the formal executive in Canada, constituted by the Crown, the monarchy, and the governor general. This is crucial since all executive authority in Canada derives from the Crown which is the highest constitutional authority. However, in practice and in accordance with parliamentary democracy, the political executive exercises the states’ power and authority. The precise means of which have evolved through convention since the political executive is not codified in the Constitution, nor is the prime minister. Therefore, to understand the exercise of executive authority in practice, we looked at the political executive and the agencies that support it. The political executive is composed of the PM, the ministry, and the cabinet. It is supported by the four coordinating agencies: The Prime Minister’s Office, the Office of the Privy Council, the Treasury Board, and the Department of Finance. Understanding the formal and practical expression of the executive has set the stage for module six, the legislative branch.