STRUCTURE OF THE MINISTRY

The Ministry is composed of both Cabinet Members and Secretaries of State.

Secretaries of State, although sworn to the Privy Council and part of the Ministry, are not members of Cabinet.  The Secretaries of State have been given specific responsibilities in support of the Cabinet Ministers to whom they have been assigned.  They work on areas the Prime Minister has designated as priorities.

This innovation, long accepted practice in the United Kingdom, France and Australia, has helped the Government fulfil the mandate it received on October 25, 1993, without the costs associated with the creation of new organizations.  As members of the Ministry, Secretaries of State are bound by collective responsibility.  They have a smaller staff and less pay than Cabinet Ministers.

The Cabinet decision-making machinery consists of full Cabinet as the senior forum for collective decision-making and five Cabinet Committees:

• Economic Union
• Social Union
• Treasury Board
• Special Committee of Council
• Government Communications