Administering the Summit from a Canadian Perspective

Abstract

Writing in 1970, Canadian journalist Walter Stewart argued that the prime minister was emerging as the ‘single dominant force in government’ in Canada.1 He went on to call Pierre Trudeau, then Canadian Prime Minister, Canada’s ‘President’. A keen student of Canadian politics later suggested that Canada ‘seems to have created a presidential system without its congressional advantages’.2 There is no reason to believe that the position and influence of the prime minister have attenuated in recent years. Indeed, no one would even attempt now to make the case that the prime minister is still ‘first among equals’ in Cabinet. It is important to bear in mind, however, that though the Canadian prime minister in most circumstances can dominate his Cabinet and the federal government’s political and policy agenda, there are still a number of checks on his influence and power. Those checks and balances may have been declining in recent years, but they are still present.