What is strange is the way it has been announced. It has been a central principle of the Westminster system of Parliamentary government that major government decisions are made collectively by the cabinet and that cabinet members are collectively responsible for those decisions. It has been apparent for at least two decades that the prime minister, whatever the party, has increasingly been usurping that power of decision. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, Laurie Hawn, has now made this changed reality completely clear.
This is what he has just had to say about the prime minister’s decision (not, it is very apparent, the cabinet’s) to shift the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan from Kandahar to Kabul and to change its role to solely non-combat training:
1) On CBC News Network’s Power & Politics, Nov. 12, at 6:40 on the clip:
…The prime minister is empowered to make this kind of decision…
2) And more fully on CBC Radio One’s The House, Nov. 13, at 8:35 on the clip:
…The prime minister is the head of our government and he is empowered to make these kinds of decisions…The prime minister is within his authority and mandate to make this kind of call…
So the Canadian federal government is de facto headed by a powerful presidential figure; there is no de jure to prescribe the powers of the cabinet vis-à-vis the prime minister, just accepted convention which is most definitively not what it was. One wonders when our politicians, punditocracy, and professoriat will remark upon the constitutionally rather startling statements by Mr Hawn.
One pundit, Chantal Hebert, does make these rather telling observations on how the prime minister’s decision was presented to the public:
…Stephen Harper’s communications director, Dimitri Soudas, did the media rounds.
The sight of an unelected partisan staffer apprising Canadians of their government’s thinking on a top-of-mind defence and foreign policy issue that involves committing hundreds of Canadian men and women to a war theatre for an extra three years was unprecedented.
The power of the PMO has been in ascendancy at the expense of the federal cabinet for a number of decades, but that evolution has rarely been as blatantly obvious as over the past two weeks…
The Crown may still have ministers but they no longer are of any real account. The prime minister indeed rules the executive alone. And, with a majority government, the legislature too–unlike in the United States where the two branches of government are firmly separated.
Update: A response of mine in the “Comments”; this post was not making a partisan political point:
I was not criticizing this prime minister in particular. I was merely pointing out what an odd way in which a fundamental change in the Canadian constitution was effectively made public (significant parts of our constitution are still unwritten: neither “cabinet” nor “prime minister” appears in the Constitution Act, formerly known as the BNA).
I would point out that PM Chretien was in practise equally presidential. I have seen no indication that he took his announcement in early 2003 that the CF would return to Afstan (so they would not be available in any strength for Iraq) to cabinet, nor that shortly thereafter he took to cabinet the announcement in the House that Canada would not take part in the invasion of Iraq.
Prime ministers for some time have become ever more presidential. The present difference, for good or ill depending on how you look at it, is that until 2004 those PMs could also control Parliament.
Rather scary, regardless of the party the PM heads.
Upperdate: Version of the post is also at the Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute’s 3Ds blog.
Mark
Ottawa
PM Harper allowed a vote in parliament on the Afghan mission, twice. He did not have to do that, he DOES have full power to send our troops into conflicts without ANY consultation. This is what the Liberals did. They sent our troops to Afghanistan WITHOUT consulting anyone.
Quit your whining, PM Harper is doing the right thing and that is what Laurie Hawn was trying to tell Canadians.
I agree with Hunter fully.Quit your whining and let the PM do his job.Who do you really think he should consult??The ADSCAM Libs?The Taliban Jack NDP?The Separatists?WHO exactly does PM Harper consult.All the experts say it is the right thing to do.Why consult with the idiots at CBC.Toronto Star or opposition turncoats.
PM Harper your doing a great job and Canada is proud of you.
Actually Mark, I think if he puts it to a vote he will then be accused of playing politics with this issue as it would appear the LPC is very divided over it. I believe that is why you are not hearing the LPC bitching over his assertion that he doesn’t need a vote, he might actually be throwing a life line to Iggy with this decision. As to the legal implications of it, regarding if he needs to have HofC approval for the extension/change of mission to one of training, no he does not in anyway have to call for a vote. The vote last time was a nicety not a legal obligation and a way to bring the LPC on board.
Sigh.
I think Mark’s point was that the Prime Minister should be consulting his cabinet, and a political decision should not be announced by a non-elected spokesperson.
And what Mark should realize from this is that it is absolute sacrilige to dare criticize Harper, no matter what he has done. His minions will ALWAYS come to his defence. And that is why he gets away with behaving like a president instead of a prime minister.
I was not criticizing this prime minister in particular. I was merely pointing out what an odd way in which a fundamental change in the Canadian constitution was effectively made public (significant parts of our constitution are still unwritten: neither “cabinet” nor “prime minister” appears in the Constitution Act, formerly known as the BNA).
I would point out that PM Chretien was in practise equally presidential. I have seen no indication that he took his announcement in early 2003 that the CF would return to Afstan (so they would not be available in any strength for Iraq) to cabinet, nor that shortly thereafter he took to cabinet his announcement in the House that Canada would not take part in the invasion of Iraq.
Prime ministers for some time have become ever more presidential. The present difference, for good or ill depending on how you look at it, is that until 2004 those PMs could also control Parliament.
Rather scary, regardless of the party the PM heads.
Mark
Ottawa
Again Gayle,the PM Harper hater has to spoil the conversation.The question is who should PM Harper consult.Obviously he already consulted his cabinet and anyone else that mattered or has brains.Libs ,Ndp and Separatists need not be consulted because they really have had no input in this country for the past 4 years so why start now.
To add to the conversation, there has been much criticism (some valid) to the effect that there is too much power vested in the PMO. (Liberal and Conservative)
Yet, when Harper wants to bring about Senate Reform, which is supposed to bring regional balance to our democracy, the Opposition fight it tooth and nail. Years of “installing” Senators is a departure from our Constitution. Now if only the provinces (exception Alberta) would cooperate and not want the federal gov’t to pay for Senate elections, maybe we could get back on track.
The point is not the power in the PMO. It is the power that prime ministers, of both parties, have been able whatever the reason to acquire as opposed to other cabinet members. It used quite a while ago to be said that in the Westminster system the PM was primus inter pares. Now there are now “pares”.
The role of the PMO only reflects the now so very great power of the prime minister, whatever the party.
What I am trying to point out is that people should realize how much our operational constitution has in fact changed. But I am confident also that 90% (99% to be honest) of Canadians have no clue what the cabinet’s role has been supposed to be vis-a-vis that committee’s chair, the PM.
TV has much for which to answer. Plus the politicians themselves, all parties.
Mark
Ottawa
Winnipeg Free Press Editorial
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is acting appropriately in deciding not to seek the approval of Parliament to deploy about 1,000 soldiers to a training mission near Kabul. Fortunately, the Liberal Party of Canada agrees with him, a reflection of its own understanding that the government must be free to govern.
The other parties — the NDP, Bloc Quebecois and the Greens — want the matter put to a vote, but then it’s easy to make wild and irresponsible demands when it’s unlikely any of them will ever be in a position to make hard choices as a government.
In Canada, the government does not require parliamentary approval to, among other things, declare war, make foreign policy, or deploy troops overseas. These are discretionary prerogative powers that rest with the Crown, but are exercised by the prime minister and his or her cabinet.
Mr. Harper has never required parliamentary approval for the government’s actions in Afghanistan, but he nevertheless submitted a motion in 2008 to extend the mission until 2011. He said at the time he felt such a vote was necessary for “the sake of legitimacy.”
Read rest at
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/afghan-mission-evolves-107676748.html
Why do people keep calling the Greens a party??They have never had a member elected to parliament.Only fame they have is an idiot mouthpiece,who talks over everyone else in a conversation and tries to intimidate with her mouth.They are not in Parliament so why give them air time,and I certainly hope they don,t give this fringe group a position again during election debates.May was a disgrace at the last one.
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Ya,the onlyelectedMP that matter are Tories.ThemillionsofCAnadians that sent non-Tories tothe HouseofCommons are irrelevant.
Sheesh,you are a partisan without any thought of thelarger picture.
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