Is the Prime Minister Too Powerful?
Topic: Is the Prime Minister Too Powerful?
In this essay, I will demonstrate that the Prime Minister is powerful and can cause many potential dangers by analyzing different elements inside and outside of our government over the period of different Prime Ministers throughout the Canadian political history.
In theory, the Parliament is the most important institution in the Canadian government and all members of the parliament are equal. The Prime Minister is supposed to be primus inter pares, meaning first among equals. But over the years, the cabinet has become more institutionalized and less departmentalized. Hence the Prime Minister’s power has increased over the years. Canada is the one of the most decentralized federations in the World. Power is swung away from the parliament and is more concentrated in the executive branch (Courtney, 1984: p. 241). The Prime Ministers is not too powerful in a global scale but it has substantial power within Canada. However the power of the Prime Minister can also be affected by many different factors. .
Canada is a fusion of the British parliamentary system with the American federalism. The Prime Minister is the highest role in the government. He can appoint or remove individual from the cabinet and patriotic appointments. Lloyd Axworthy was hired as a cabinet minister by both Trudeau and Chrétien (Cook & Belanger, 2007: p. 401). The PM controls all justices of the Supreme Court of Justice, vacant seats in the senate, all heads of Canadian Crown Corporations and many more.
The Prime Minister’s powers extend beyond the level of federal government. The effects of the powerful Prime Minister do not necessarily exhibit from the PM itself by other actors in the government. Provincial premiers and territorial leaders are allowed to communicate directly to the PM without the going thought the web of ministers. Former premier of News Brunswick, Frank McKenna organized a one-on-one meeting with former PM Jean Chrétien during a
In this essay, I will demonstrate that the Prime Minister is powerful and can cause many potential dangers by analyzing different elements inside and outside of our government over the period of different Prime Ministers throughout the Canadian political history.
In theory, the Parliament is the most important institution in the Canadian government and all members of the parliament are equal. The Prime Minister is supposed to be primus inter pares, meaning first among equals. But over the years, the cabinet has become more institutionalized and less departmentalized. Hence the Prime Minister’s power has increased over the years. Canada is the one of the most decentralized federations in the World. Power is swung away from the parliament and is more concentrated in the executive branch (Courtney, 1984: p. 241). The Prime Ministers is not too powerful in a global scale but it has substantial power within Canada. However the power of the Prime Minister can also be affected by many different factors. .
Canada is a fusion of the British parliamentary system with the American federalism. The Prime Minister is the highest role in the government. He can appoint or remove individual from the cabinet and patriotic appointments. Lloyd Axworthy was hired as a cabinet minister by both Trudeau and Chrétien (Cook & Belanger, 2007: p. 401). The PM controls all justices of the Supreme Court of Justice, vacant seats in the senate, all heads of Canadian Crown Corporations and many more.
The Prime Minister’s powers extend beyond the level of federal government. The effects of the powerful Prime Minister do not necessarily exhibit from the PM itself by other actors in the government. Provincial premiers and territorial leaders are allowed to communicate directly to the PM without the going thought the web of ministers. Former premier of News Brunswick, Frank McKenna organized a one-on-one meeting with former PM Jean Chrétien during a