Parliament, Cabinet, Democracy and Responsible Government

• Author: Craig Forcese/Aaron Freeman
• Pages: 352-409

Parliament,

Cabinet,

Democracy

and

Responsible

Government

As

discussed

in

chapter

2,

"responsible" government

is the

means

by

which

the

executive

is

held structurally accountable

to the

legislature.

In

practice,

responsible government hinges

on two

concepts:

first,

the

min-

istry

is

usually expected

to

exert "command

and

control" authority

over

unelected

officials.

In the

words

of

Governor

General

Earl

Grey:

"[A]ll

hold-

ers of

permanent

offices

must

be

subordinate

to

some minister responsi-

ble

to

parliament."1

Thus,

as

discussed

at

various points

in

this book,

the

Governor

General generally acts only

on the

advice

of the

prime minister

or

Cabinet. Meanwhile,

as is

explored

in

greater detail

below,

departments

and

agencies

of the

public administration

of

Canada report

to

ministers.

Second,

these

same ministers

are

accountable

to

Parliament, both individ-

ually

and

collectively

as

members

of

Cabinet.

In

this fashion, parliamentar-

ians have ultimate responsibility

for the

governance

of the

country,

through

the

proxy

of

ministers.

In

this chapter,

we

explore both

of

these

aspects

of

responsible government.

We

begin

by

examining Cabinet's role

in

executive governance.

We

then highlight Parliament's function

in

over-

seeing that executive.

i

Cited

in

Donald

Savoie,

Breaking

the

Bargain

(Toronto:

University

of

Toronto

Press,

2003)

at 32.

352

6

Parliament, Cabinet, Democracy

and

Responsible Government

A.

CABINETS

ROLE

IN

EXECUTIVE

GOVERNANCE

Cabinet plays

a

central

role

in

Canadian governance,

exercising

hierarchical

and

structural

control

over

the

public

administration

of

Canada.

Canadian

law

includes

potent

measures

ensuring

that

this

public

administration

remains

accountable

to

Cabinet.

i.

Cabinet Procedure

and

Structure

a)

Cabinet

Purpose

and

Organization

In

the

words

of the

Privy

Council

Office,

Cabinet's

functions

include:

securing agreement among Ministers

on

government priorities; securing

agreement

on

parliamentary actions

by the

government; providing

a

forum

for

ministerial debate

on

issues

of

general interest; providing ade-

quate information

to

Ministers relative

to

decisions

for

which they will

be

held collectively responsible

and

which

may

impact

on

their individual

responsibilities;

and

providing adequate information

to the

Prime Minis-

ter

to

carry

out

his/her

responsibilities

and

his/her

leadership

role.2

Exactly

how

Cabinet

is

structured

to do all of

this,

and how it

proceeds,

is

mostly

the

domain

of

administration

and

politics,

not

law.

Prime

minis-

ters

are

entitled

to

organize

their

Cabinets

mostly

as

they wish,

using

any

number

of

different

committee

structures

and

delegating

various

degrees

of

decision-making autonomy

to

these

committees.3

As

Professor Donald

Savoie

has

detailed,

these

structures

and the way in

which

Cabinet deci-

sions

are

made,

reflect

the

personalities

and

priorities

of

individual

prime

ministers.4

At the

time

of

this

writing,

the

Martin Cabinet employs

eight

committees,

as

detailed

in

Table

6.i.5

Table

6.1

Cabinet Committees

in the

Martin Government

Com

m

ittee

Responsibility

Operations

Provides

the

day-to-day

coordination

of the

implementation

of the

gov-

ernment's

agenda,

including policy, House planning, urgent

issues

and

communications.

Treasury

Board

Manages

the

government's financial, personnel

and

administrative respon-

sibilities,

as

well

as

approving regulations

and

most

Orders-in-Council.

Privy

Council

Office, Information Resources:

About

Cabinet.

See

discussion

in

Donald

Savoie,

Governing

from

the

Centre

(Toronto: University

of

Toronto Press,

1999)

at

265.

Ibid.

Privy

Council

Office, Cabinet Committee Mandates

and

Membership.

353

2

3

4

5

354

THE

LAWS

OF

GOVERNMENT

Committee

Responsibility

Treasury

Board

Expenditure

Review

Sub-Committee

of the

Treasury

Board

Domestic Affairs

Global

Affairs

Security,

Public Health

&

Emergencies

Canada-U.S.

Aboriginal

Affairs

Note that

the

Financial Administration

Act

legislates some

of

Trea-

sury

Board's

responsibilities,

and

thus

the

prime minister does

not

set

all of

this committee's

mandate.6

Ministers

in

this committee

are

appointed

by

Order-in-Council

issued

pursuant

to the

Act.7

Reviews

all

programs

and

areas

of

cross-cutting

interest

and

makes

recommendations

to

Treasury

Board

on

funding

decisions

and re-

allocations.

Considers,

in an

integrated manner, social, economic

and

environ-

mental policy

issues.

Ensures

an

integrated approach

to

foreign

affairs, defence, interna-

tional development, international trade

and

other related

issues.

Manages

national security

and

intelligence

issues

and

activities,

and

ensures

coordination

of the

federal

response

to all

emergen-

cies,

including

natural disasters, public health,

and

security.

Ensures

an

integrated, government-wide approach

to

Canada-U.S.

relations.

Supports

a

renewed emphasis

on

Aboriginal

issues.

b)

Cabinet Solidarity

and

Confidence

Cabinet's

operations

are not

entirely

the

whim

of the

prime

minister.

At

least

one

principle

is

enduring:

ministers

in

Cabinet must

act in

solidarity.

Indeed,

this

Cabinet solidarity

has

been described

as an

unwritten consti-

tutional

convention.8

It

"allows ministers

to be

frank

in

private

but

requires

them

to

support

the

government

in

public."9

Thus,

a

minister must loyally

support

and

defend

any

Cabinet

decision,

and not

suggest

that

he or she

differed

with

the

prevailing

view.10

Further, ministers "may speak about government's policy only

after

it

has

been agreed

to in

private

by

their

colleagues."11

A

minister

may not

publicly

initiate

new

policy, absent this prior Cabinet consent.

For

this

same

reason,

a

minister

must

not

make public

statements

or

speeches

that

appear

to

implicate

the

government.12

To

these attributes

is

added

the

6

Financial

Administration

Act,

s. 5 et

seq.

7

See, e.g.,

Order-in-Council,

2004-0848

(2004-07-20).

8

See, e.g.,

Privy

Council

Office, Governing Responsibly:

A

Guide

for

Ministers

and

Minis-

ters

of

State

(2004).

9

Privy

Council

Office, Information Resources:

About

Cabinet.

10

Eugene

A.

Forsey

and

G.C.

Eglington,

The

Question

of

Confidence

in

Responsibk

Gov-

ernment

(Ottawa:

Special Committee

on the

Reform

of the

House

of

Commons,

1985)

at

84.

11

Privy

Council

Office, Information Resources:

About

Cabinet.

12

Forsey

and

Eglington,

The

Question

of

Confidence

at 84.