Secretary of State for Canada

The Secretary of State for Canada, established in 1867 with a corresponding department, was a Canadian Cabinet position that served as the official channel of communication between the Dominion of Canada and the Imperial government in London.[1][2]

This article is about the position in the Cabinet of Canada in existence from 1867 to 1996. For the generic usage of the title "Secretary of State" used during the Canadian Government's 26th Ministry (1993–2003), see Secretary of State (Canada).
Secretary of State for Canada
Sir Hector-Louis Langevin, first Secretary of State for Canada
Member ofCabinet of Canada
FormationJuly 1, 1867
First holderHector-Louis Langevin
Final holderLucienne Robillard
AbolishedJuly 12, 1996
Politics of Canada
Government (structure)
The Crown
Executive (King-in-Council)
Legislative (King-in-Parliament)
Judicial (King-on-the-Bench)
Elections
Local government
Foreign relations
Crown and Indigenous peoples
Related topics

As Canada became increasingly independent after World War I, and particularly with the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, this role fell into disuse. The department was maintained, however, and was used to administer various aspects of government that did not have their own ministry. Accordingly, the Secretary of State for Canada was Registrar General of Canada, responsible as such for the Great Seal of Canada and various functions of state associated with it.

At various times the Secretary of State for Canada was responsible for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the civil service, the Queen's Printer for Canada, administration of Crown lands, and governance of Canadian Indians (as they were called at the time), as well as various ceremonial and state duties. Generally, any government role and responsibility which was not specifically assigned to a cabinet minister would be the de facto responsibility of the Secretary of State.

The department was eliminated in 1993 when the government was reorganized; however, the position of Secretary of State for Canada was not legally eliminated until 1996 when its remaining responsibilities were assigned to other cabinet positions and departments, particularly the newly created Minister of Canadian Heritage position.

The position of Secretary of State for Canada had no relation to that of Secretary of State for External Affairs except for the period from 1909 until 1912 when the Secretary of State for Canada (Charles Murphy under Sir Wilfrid Laurier, and William James Roche under Sir Robert Borden) was responsible for the newly created Department of External Affairs.

Secretaries of State for Canada
Legend
  Liberal Party of Canada
  Historical conservative parties: Liberal-Conservative, Conservative (historical), Unionist, National Liberal and Conservative, Progressive Conservative
No. Portrait Name Term of office Political party Ministry
1 Sir Hector-Louis Langevin July 1, 1867 December 8, 1869 Liberal-Conservative 1 (Macdonald)
2 James Cox Aikins December 8, 1869 November 5, 1873 Liberal-Conservative
3 David Christie November 7, 1873 January 8, 1874 Liberal 2 (Mackenzie)
4 Sir Richard William Scott January 9, 1874 October 8, 1878 Liberal
(2) James Cox Aikins October 19, 1878 November 7, 1880 Conservative 3 (Macdonald)
5 John O'Connor November 8, 1880 May 19, 1881 Conservative
6 Joseph-Alfred Mousseau May 20, 1881 July 28, 1882 Conservative
7 Sir Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau July 29, 1882 June 6, 1891 Conservative
June 16, 1891 January 24, 1892 4 (Abbott)
8 James Colebrooke Patterson January 25, 1892 November 24, 1892 Conservative
9 John Costigan December 5, 1892 December 12, 1894 Conservative 5 (Thompson)
10 Arthur Rupert Dickey December 21, 1894 March 25, 1895 Conservative 6 (Bowell)
11 Walter Humphries Montague March 26, 1895 December 20, 1895 Conservative
– Joseph-Aldric Ouimet
(Acting)		 December 21, 1895 January 5, 1896 Conservative
– Thomas Mayne Daly
(Acting)		 January 6, 1896 January 14, 1896 Conservative
12 Sir Charles Tupper January 15, 1896 April 27, 1896 Conservative
May 1, 1896 July 8, 1896 7 (Tupper)
(4) Sir Richard William Scott July 13, 1896 October 8, 1908 Liberal 8 (Laurier)
13 Charles Murphy October 9, 1908 October 6, 1911 Liberal
14 William James Roche October 10, 1911 October 28, 1912 Conservative 9 (Borden)
15 Louis Coderre October 29, 1912 October 5, 1915 Conservative
16 Pierre Édouard Blondin October 6, 1915 January 7, 1917 Conservative
17 Esioff-Léon Patenaude January 8, 1917 June 12, 1917 Conservative
– Albert Sévigny
(Acting)		 June 13, 1917 August 24, 1917 Conservative
18 Arthur Meighen August 25, 1917 October 12, 1917 Conservative
19 Martin Burrell October 12, 1917 December 30, 1919 Unionist 10 (Borden)
20 Arthur Sifton December 31, 1919 July 10, 1920 Unionist
July 10, 1920 January 21, 1921 National Liberal and Conservative 11 (Meighen)
– Sir Henry Lumley Drayton
(Acting)		 January 24, 1921 September 20, 1921 National Liberal and Conservative
21 Rodolphe Monty September 21, 1921 December 29, 1921 National Liberal and Conservative
22 Arthur Bliss Copp December 29, 1921 September 24, 1925 Liberal 12 (King)
23 Walter Edward Foster September 26, 1925 November 12, 1925 Liberal
– Charles Murphy
(Acting)		 November 13, 1925 March 23, 1926 Liberal
– Ernest Lapointe
(Acting)		 March 24, 1926 June 28, 1926 Liberal
24 George Halsey Perley June 29, 1926 September 25, 1926 Conservative 13 (Meighen)
25 Fernand Rinfret September 25, 1926 August 7, 1930 Liberal 14 (King)
26 Charles Cahan August 7, 1930 October 23, 1935 Conservative 15 (Bennett)
(25) Fernand Rinfret October 23, 1935 July 12, 1939 Liberal 16 (King)
– Ernest Lapointe
(Acting - Second time)		 July 26, 1939 May 8, 1940 Liberal
27 Pierre-François Casgrain May 9, 1940 December 14, 1941 Liberal
28 Norman Alexander McLarty December 15, 1941 April 17, 1945 Liberal
29 Paul Martin Sr. April 18, 1945 December 11, 1946 Liberal
30 Colin W. G. Gibson December 12, 1946 November 15, 1948 Liberal
November 15, 1948 March 31, 1949 17 (St. Laurent)
31 Frederick Gordon Bradley March 31, 1949 June 11, 1953 Liberal
32 Jack Pickersgill June 11, 1953 June 30, 1954 Liberal
33 Roch Pinard July 1, 1954 June 21, 1957 Liberal
34 Ellen Fairclough[3] June 21, 1957 May 11, 1958 Progressive Conservative 18 (Diefenbaker)
35 Henri Courtemanche May 12, 1958 June 19, 1960 Progressive Conservative
– Léon Balcer
(Acting)		 June 21, 1960 October 10, 1960 Progressive Conservative
36 Noël Dorion October 11, 1960 July 5, 1962 Progressive Conservative
– Léon Balcer
(Acting - Second time)		 July 11, 1962 August 8, 1962 Progressive Conservative
37 Ernest Halpenny August 9, 1962 April 22, 1963 Progressive Conservative
(32) Jack Pickersgill April 22, 1963 February 2, 1964 Liberal 19 (Pearson)
38 Maurice Lamontagne February 2, 1964 December 17, 1965 Liberal
39 Judy LaMarsh[4] December 17, 1965 April 9, 1968 Liberal
– John Joseph Connolly
(Acting)		 April 10, 1968 April 20, 1968 Liberal
40 Jean Marchand April 20, 1968 July 5, 1968 Liberal 20 (P. E. Trudeau)
41 Gérard Pelletier July 5, 1968 November 26, 1972 Liberal
42 Hugh Faulkner November 27, 1972 September 13, 1976 Liberal
43 John Roberts September 14, 1976 June 3, 1979 Liberal
44 David MacDonald June 4, 1979 March 2, 1980 Progressive Conservative 21 (Clark)
45 Francis Fox March 3, 1980 September 21, 1981 Liberal 22 (P. E. Trudeau)
46 Gerald Regan September 22, 1981 October 5, 1982 Liberal
47 Serge Joyal October 6, 1982 June 29, 1984 Liberal
June 30, 1984 September 16, 1984 23 (Turner)
48 Walter McLean September 17, 1984 April 19, 1985 Progressive Conservative 24 (Mulroney)
49 Benoît Bouchard April 20, 1985 June 29, 1986 Progressive Conservative
50 David Crombie June 30, 1986 March 30, 1988 Progressive Conservative
51 Lucien Bouchard March 31, 1988 January 29, 1989 Progressive Conservative
52 Gerry Weiner January 30, 1989 April 20, 1991 Progressive Conservative
53 Robert de Cotret April 21, 1991 January 3, 1993 Progressive Conservative
54 Monique Landry January 4, 1993 June 24, 1993 Progressive Conservative
June 24, 1993 November 3, 1993 25 (Campbell)
55 Sergio Marchi November 4, 1993 January 24, 1996 Liberal 26 (Chrétien)
56 Lucienne Robillard January 25, 1996 July 12, 1996 Liberal

See also

References
  1. Canada. 1867. "Secretary of State for Canada." House of Commons Debates, 1st Parl, 1st Sess, at 94-95.
  2. Scott, R. W. 1874. "Report of the Secretary of State for Canada for the Year Ending on the 30th June, 1873..." Ottawa: I. B. Taylor.
  3. Christensen, Martin Iversen. 2016. "Female Members of the Cabinet of Canada." Female Members of the Cabinet of Canada.. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  4. Zuschlag, Anna. 2017. "Judy LaMarsh." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.