The PM and the SSEA in Canada's Foreign Policy: Sharing the Territory, 1946–1968

Abstract

From the time of Confederation, the prime minister of Canada has played a central role in dealing with questions on external relations coming before the government. Although London retained ultimate responsibility for Canada's international interests, those interests also required attention in Ottawa. With no member of the cabinet assigned responsibility for external affairs, it fell to the prime minister to deal with these matters himself or to delegate them, on a case-by-case basis, to a colleague. The creation of the Department of External Affairs in 1 909 enhanced the prime minister's authority in this area. Although the legislation setting up the department placed the secretary of state in charge, it was in fact the prime minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who took the lead. Appearance became legal reality three years later, when Robert Borden's government created the office of secretary of state for external affairs and assigned it to the prime minister. Although the Canadian government subsequently assumed full responsibility for international relations (formalized by the Statute of Westminster in 1931), a separate external affairs post was not established until 1946.1