Cabinet: Then and Now

For many years, Canada’s Cabinet was peripatetic: it moved between Kingston, Montreal, Quebec City, and Toronto, until Ottawa was chosen as the capital in 1857. Construction on the Parliament Buildings began in 1860 and by the time of Confederation on July 1, 1867, the new offices were ready for the new government.

The Cabinet Room (Room 235) in the East Block of the Parliament Buildings was the focal point of federal power in Canada for over a century. Every Prime Minister from Sir John A. Macdonald to Pierre Elliott Trudeau held meetings in this room, making it perhaps Canada’s most significant historical site for the conduct of government business.

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Prior to the Second World War, there were no Cabinet Committees, no Cabinet agenda, and no official records of Cabinet business: the Prime Minister was the arbiter of what was decided. The Clerk of the Privy Council left a box in front of the Prime Minister’s chair with orders that were submitted by Departments for approval. At the end of the Cabinet meeting, he returned to find which had been approved and which rejected.

The size of Cabinet was in part determined by the size of the room and the table. Canada’s First Ministry had 13 members on July 1, 1867, with the Prime Minister doing double duty as Minister of Justice and Attorney General.