THE CABINET

The Cabinet is the Government of Canada’s key decision-making forum. The Prime Minister is the leader of Cabinet and decides on its size, membership, and responsibilities. The current Cabinet has twenty-eight Ministers.

Cabinet Ministers are usually Members of Parliament or Senators from the same political party as the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister chooses Cabinet Ministers based on their individual expertise, the value of including representatives of all regions and drawing on the full diversity of Canadian life.

The Prime Minister and the rest of the Cabinet meet regularly to discuss and decide on important issues affecting the government and Canadian society, such as:

• major government spending decisions;
• proposals on new or amended laws for Parliament to consider; and
• major new policies, programs and services.

Ministers may also come to Cabinet or its committees to provide information on emerging or important issues, even if no decision is needed.

How Cabinet and its Committees are Structured

Because the Government of Canada has many responsibilities, the Cabinet has a large workload. The whole Cabinet normally meets every week when the House of Commons is in session.  Because of the complexity of public policy issues, almost all proposals for Cabinet are first reviewed by smaller committees of Ministers.  Cabinet has five formal committees:

The Cabinet Committee for Economic Union

This committee looks at issues with significant economic impacts. For example, it deals with industrial and finance issues, natural resources and agriculture, and research, development and innovation.

The Cabinet Committee for Social Union

This committee reviews proposals from departments and Ministers on initiatives to support the development of Canadian society. For example, it deals with health, children, learning, safe communities and Aboriginal issues.

The Treasury Board

This committee focuses on overall government management. That includes attention to proper and effective use of public funds, ensuring that the Government of Canada manages its employees well, and bringing the highest quality service to Canadians.

The Special Committee of Council

Most Canadian laws are supported by regulations that spell out how the laws will work in detail. This committee is primarily responsible for reviewing and approving new and amended regulations.

The Cabinet Committee on Government Communications

This committee looks at government-wide communications issues, and works to ensure consistency in how all parts of the government reach out to better inform and listen to Canadians.

How Cabinet Decides

Ministers need Cabinet approval before presenting a new law for approval by Parliament. They normally also need that approval for major new policy, program and service initiatives from their departments.

There are a series of steps that a typical proposal will go through on its way to Cabinet for a decision:

• The Minister, his or her staff and the department develop a formal proposal, including different options for Cabinet to choose from.
• On most major new policy initiatives, Ministers and officials consult the provinces, territories, interested groups and individuals.
• They consult with other Ministers, departments and agencies in the government that could be interested in the proposal or affected by it.
• The Minister approves a formal document with clear options that is assigned to a Cabinet committee for review.
• The Privy Council Office reviews, provides advice on, and distributes the document so that Ministers and departments involved have time to review it.
• Once a Cabinet committee agrees to a proposal, it then goes to full Cabinet.
• Cabinet reviews the proposal and it may ask the Minister to make further changes prior to final approval.
• Throughout all this process, the Prime Minister is responsible for Cabinet decision-making and he or she establishes a consensus that all Cabinet members support and defend under Canada’s parliamentary tradition.

Readers seeking a more detailed description may refer to Chapter 2 (Cabinet Government and the Prime Minister) of the detailed paper on "The Responsibilities of the Privy Council Office".