The clerk of the Privy Council () is the professional head of the Public Service of Canada. As the deputy minister for the Privy Council Office (the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

's department), the clerk is the senior

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

in the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

and serves as the secretary to the Cabinet (). The role of the clerk is

nonpartisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

; clerks may serve multiple prime ministers and do not belong to any political party. As the secretary to the Cabinet, the role provides impartial advice to the ministry and oversees the advice and policy support given to Cabinet and its committees. As head of the public service,Clerk of the Privy Council
/ref> the clerk is responsible for other deputy ministers and the provision of non-partisan, expert advice to the government as a whole. The clerk is a

Governor in Council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it would mean the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of a ...

appointment made on the advice of the prime minister. On March 1, 2021, Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

announced that

Janice Charette Janice Charette is a Canadian public servant serving as the Clerk of the Privy Council (Canada), clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the Cabinet. She previously held the role from 2014 to 2016, before being appointed as the High Commissio ...

would serve as interim clerk of the Privy Council as of March 9, 2021, as incumbent

Ian Shugart Ian D. Shugart (born May 31, 1957) is a Canadian politician and retired public servant who has been a senator from Ontario since September 27, 2022. Prior to his appointment to the Senate, Shugart held a number of senior roles within the Publ ...

underwent cancer treatment. She was permanently named to the position on May 25, 2022. In the provinces and territories, the equivalent position of senior public servant is called the cabinet secretary or clerk of the executive council (in French, or , respectively).

History

The

Privy Council for Canada The 's Privy Council for Canada (french: Conseil privé du Roi pour le Canada),) during the reign of a queen. sometimes called Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal consultants to the ...

was created and authorized by the ''

Constitution Act, 1867 The ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (french: Loi constitutionnelle de 1867),''The Constitution Act, 1867'', 30 & 31 Victoria (U.K.), c. 3, http://canlii.ca/t/ldsw retrieved on 2019-03-14. originally enacted as the ''British North America Act, 186 ...

'', and there has been a clerk of the Privy Council since then. The staff of the Privy Council increased from 142 to 352 between 1971 and 1975."Archives Search"
at collectionscanada, 2018-05-20 In 1989, reforms initiated by Prime Minister

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...

gave the clerk position its present day responsibilities. Expert

Donald Savoie Donald Joseph Savoie (born 1947) is a Canadian public administration and regional economic development scholar. He serves as a professor at l'Université de Moncton. In 2015, he was awarded the Killam Prize The Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Prize ...

describes these as a combination of three roles: "the secretary of cabinet, the head of the non-partisan public service, and the deputy minister — or top bureaucrat — to the prime minister." One critique of this arrangement is that it could put senior nonpartisan officials in the position of taking partisan positions.Alex Boutiliero
Caught in the SNC-Lavalin scandal, Canada’s top civil servant should help us understand his job, expert says
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

''. March 1, 2019 Clerks generally have extensive previous experience in the Public Service of Canada before being appointed.

References

Notes

External links

Clerk of the Privy Council
{{authority control Federal departments and agencies of Canada

History

See also

References

Notes

External links