Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T19:59:26.167Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Rise of Court Government in Canada*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2009

Donald J. Savoie
Donald J. Savoie
Affiliation:
Université de Moncton
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The article challenges long-established conventions about how Canada's federal government works. It argues that Cabinet has joined Parliament as an institution being bypassed. In the late 1990s, political power is in the hands of the prime minister and a small group of carefully selected courtiers rather than with the prime minister acting in concert with his elected cabinet colleagues. The article reviews the forces that have led to the rise of court government and the policy instruments and administrative tools that enable it to function. National unity concerns, the role of the media and lobbyists, as well as reforms at the centre of government and globalization, have all served to reshape how policy and decisions are made in the government of Canada. The changes hold important implications, not just for cabinet government, but also for the public service and Canadians themselves.

Résumé

L'article remet en question des ideées acceptées de longue date sur le fonctionnement du gouvemement fédéral canadien. II soutient que, désormais, le pouvoir échappe au cabinet autant qu'au parlement. À la fin des années quatre-vingt-dix, le pouvoir politique est concentré entre les mains du Premier Ministre et d'un petit groupe de courtisans soigneusement choisis, au lieu d'appartenir à un Premier Ministre qui agirait de concert avec ses collègues é1us du cabinet. L'article examine les forces qui sont à l'origine de ce gouvemement monarchique et les outils politiques et administratifs qui en assurent le fonctionnement. Les problèmes d'unité nationale, les médias et les lobbys, aussi que les réformes du gouvemement lui-même et la globalisation, ont également contribué à changer la facon dont les politiques et les décisions sont adoptées au sein du gouvemement canadien. Ces changements ont eu d'importantes répercussions non seulement sur le cabinet, mais sur la fonction publique et sur l'ensemble des Canadiens.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 32 , Issue 4 , December 1999 , pp. 635 - 664
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Power, C. G., “Career Politicians: The Changing Role of the M.P.,” Queen's Quarterly 63 (1956), 488–489Google Scholar.

2 Franks, C. E. S., “The Decline of the Canadian Parliament,” The Hill Times (Ottawa), May 25, 1998, 15Google Scholar.

3 See Smith, Denis, “President and Parliament: The Transformation of Parliamentary Government in Canada,” in Hockin, Thomas A., ed., Apex of Power: The Prime Minister and Political Leadership in Canada (2nd ed.; Scarborough: Prentice-Hall, 1977), 114Google Scholar. See also Smith, David E., “Bagehot, the Crown and the Canadian Constitution,” this Journal 28 (1995), 619–635Google Scholar.

4 Robertson, Gordon, “The Changing Role of the Privy Council Office,” Canadian Public Administration 14 (1971), 497CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 Canada, Responsibility in the Constitution (Ottawa: Privy Council Office, 1993)Google Scholar.

6 See Dupré, J. S., “The Workability of Executive Federalism in Canada,” in Bakvis, H. and Chandler, W., eds., Federalism and the Role of the State (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1987), 238–239Google Scholar.

7 Based on material provided to me by a former senior official with the Federal-Provincial Relations Office, Ottawa, January 1993.

8 See Savoie, Donald J., Governing from the Centre: The Concentration of Political Power in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999)Google Scholar.

9 Quoted in ibid., 153.

10 Cooper, Andrew F., In Between Countries: Australia, Canada and the Search for Order in Agricultural Trade (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1997), 217Google Scholar.

11 See Cameron, David and Simeon, Richard, “Intergovernmental Relations and Democratic Citizenship,” in Peters, B. Guy and Savoie, Donald J., eds., Revitalizing the Public Service: A Governance Vision for the XXIst Century (forthcoming)Google Scholar.

12 See Savoie, Governing from the Centre, 152.

13 Ibid., chap. 4.

14 “Ottawa Sweetens Aid for Fisheries,” The Globe and Mail (Toronto), June 19, 1998, A1, A5Google Scholar.

15 Consultation with an official with Western Diversification Department, Ottawa, December 1997.

16 Based on information provided by Senator Lowell Murray, former Mulroney cabinet minister, Ottawa, July 1998.

17 See, among many others, Johnston, Donald, Up the Hill (Toronto: Optimum, 1986)Google Scholar; Crosbie, John C., No Holds Barred: My Life in Politics (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1997)Google Scholar; and Nielsen, Erik, The House Is Not a Home (Toronto: Macmillan, 1989)Google Scholar.

18 Johnston, Richard et al. , Letting the People Decide: Dynamics of a Canadian Election (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1992), 244Google Scholar.

19 Polsby, Nelson W. and Wildavsky, Aaron, Presidential Elections: Strategies of American Electoral Politics (New York: Free Press, 1991), 246Google Scholar.

20 Johnston et al., Letting the People Decide, 168.

21 Quoted in Sutherland, Sharon L., Does Westminster Government Have a Future? Occasional Paper Series, 11 (Ottawa: Institute of Governance, 11 June 1996), 5Google Scholar.

22 Ibid., 11.

23 See Crosbie, No Holds Barred, 301.

24 See, for example, Taras, David, The Newsmakers: The Media's Influence on Canadian Politics (Scarborough: Nelson, 1990)Google Scholar.

25 Public Opinion, This Morning, December 3, 1997.

26 Ibid.

27 Ibid.

28 Greenspon, Edward and Wilson-Smith, Anthony, Double Vision: The Inside Story of the Liberals in Power (Toronto: Doubleday, 1996), 7Google Scholar.

29 Quoted in Savoie, Governing from the Centre, 330.

30 Axworthy, Thomas S., “Of Secretaries to Princes,” Canadian Public Administration 31 (1988), 245CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

31 Johnson, Al, What Is Public Management in Government? (Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Management Development, 1993)Google Scholar.

32 See Canada, Budget des dépenses pour I'annee financeère se terminant le 31 mars 1969 (Ottawa: Imprimerie de la Reine, 1969), 106, 109, 349, 365, 436, 438Google Scholar; and Part III: Estimates, 1996–97.Consultations with an official with the Privy Council Office (Ottawa, March 1, 1999)Google Scholar.

33 See Lalonde, Marc, “The Changing Role of the Prime Minister's Office,” Canadian Public Administration 14 (1971), 532CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

34 Ibid., 520.

35 See Savoie, Governing from the Centre 36.

36 Heeney, A. D. P., “Mackenzie King and the Cabinet Secretariat,” Canadian Public Administration 10 (1967), 367CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

37 Canada, The Role and Structure of the Privy Council Office (Ottawa: Privy Council Office, October 1997), 1Google Scholar.

38 See the mandate discussion in Canada, Privy Council Office 1997–98 Estimates.

39 Quoted in Savoie, Governing from the Centre, 122.

40 Trudeau had Goldfarb, Mulroney had Allan Greg and Chretien, Michael Marzolini and the Ekos group.

41 “$3 Billion for Your Thoughts,” The Globe and Mail (Toronto), December 5, 1997, A1Google Scholar.

42 Quoted in Savoie, Governing from the Centre, 297.

43 “Chréien Set to Remake Top Court,” Citizen (Ottawa), December 14, 1997, A7Google Scholar.

44 Quoted in Savoie, Governing from the Centre, 283.

45 Ibid.

46 Kroeger, Arthur, “A Retrospective on Policy Development in Ottawa,” mimeo (Ottawa, January 1998), 10Google Scholar.

47 Ibid.

48 Ibid.

49 Savoie, Governing from the Centre, 268.

50 Robertson, “The Changing Role of the Privy Council Office,” 500.

51 Savoie, Donald J., “Globalization, Nation States, and the Civil Service,” in Peters, B. Guy and Savoie, Donald J., eds., Governance in a Changing Environment (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1995), 82–112Google Scholar.

52 Cleveland, Harland, “The Twilight of Hierarchy: Speculations on the Global Information Society,” Public Administration Review 45 (1985), 195CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

53 Quoted in Greenspon and Wilson-Smith, Double Vision, 48.

54 Simpson, Jeffrey, Spoils of Power: The Politics of Patronage (Toronto: Collins, 1988), 367Google Scholar. See also Sawatsky, John, The Insiders: Government, Business, and the Lobbyists (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1987)Google Scholar.

55 Quoted in Savoie, Governing from the Centre, 3.

56 Chretien, Jean, Straight from the Heart (Toronto: Key Porter, 1985), 85Google Scholar.

57 Ibid, 108.

58 Ibid., 99.

59 Savoie, Donald J., “Introduction,” in Taking Power: Managing Government Transitions (Toronto: Institute of Public Administration of Canada, 1993), 8Google Scholar.

60 Ibid., 1.

61 Savoie, Governing from the Centre, 138.

62 Quoted in ibid., 139.

63 Ibid.

64 Sutherland, Sharon, “Responsible Government and Ministerial Responsibility: Every Reform is Its Own Problem,” this Journal 24 (1991), 101Google Scholar.

65 Ibid., 103.

66 See, for example, Savoie, Donald J., The Politics of Public Spending in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990)Google Scholar.

67 See, among others, French, Richard, How Ottawa Decides (Ottawa: Canadian Institute for Economic Policy, 1990)Google Scholar.

68 “Spending Limits Irk Cabinet,” The Globe and Mail (Toronto), December 3, 1997, AlGoogle Scholar.

69 Ibid. See also A28.

70 A senior cabinet minister, quoted in Savoie, Governing from the Centre, 346.

71 Consultation with a former senior PCO official, Ottawa, November 1997.

72 Canada, The Functioning of the Privy Council Office (Ottawa: Privy Council Office, December 1978), 4–8Google Scholar.

73 Sharp, Mitchell, “Relations between Politicians and Public Administrators,” in Bulletin (Toronto: Institute of Public Administration, 1985), 1Google Scholar.

74 Bourgault, Jacques and Dion, Stephane, “The Changing Profile of Federal Deputy Ministers 1867 to 1988,” Research Paper No. 2 (Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Management Development, March 1991), 28Google Scholar.

75 Ibid., 39.

76 Swift, Frank, Strategic Management in the Public Service: The Changing Role of the Deputy Minister (Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Management Development, November 1993), 63Google Scholar.

77 Canada, Discussion Paper on Values and Ethics in the Public Service (Ottawa: Privy Council Office, December 1996), 45Google Scholar.

78 Swift, “Strategic Management in the Public Service,” 23.

79 Ibid. Frank Swift calls it bringing “the issue under control” (ibid.).

80 Consultation with the Honourable Mitchell Sharp, Ottawa, March 1998.

81 Ibid.

82 Consultation with a former deputy minister, Ottawa, March 1998.

83 Bourgault, Jacques, “De Kafka an Net: la lutte incessante du sous-ministre pour controler son agenda,” Gestion 22 (1997), 21–22Google Scholar.

84 Quoted in Greenspon and Wilson-Smith, Double Vision, 212.

85 See, among others, Savoie, Donald J., Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney: In Search of a New Bureaucracy (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1994)Google Scholar.

86 Axworthy, “Of Secretaries to Princes,” 247.

87 Ibid., 262.