Premier (Canada)
Encyclopedia
In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, a premier
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in some countries and states.-Examples by country:In many nations, "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister"...

is the head of government
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...

 of a province or territory
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...

. There are currently ten provincial premiers and three territorial premiers in Canada.

Premiers and government leaders of territories are styled "The Honourable" only while in office unless they are admitted to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...

, in which case they retain the title even after leaving the premiership.

Name

In a number of provinces they were previously known by the title "prime minister", with "premier" being an informal term used to apply to all prime ministers, even the Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

. This practice was eventually phased out to avoid confusing the provincial leaders with the federal
Federalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...

 prime minister, as well as to indicate the distinct nature of the provincial offices. Officially, the last such case outside Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 was that of W. A. C. Bennett who served as Premier of British Columbia, and styled himself as prime minister until leaving office in 1972.

In Canadian French
Canadian French
Canadian French is an umbrella term referring to the varieties of French spoken in Canada. French is the mother tongue of nearly seven million Canadians, a figure constituting roughly 22% of the national population. At the federal level it has co-official status alongside English...

, the head of government of a province or territory is called premier ministre: the French language does not use a separate term to distinguish the national prime minister from a provincial premier. In Quebec this designation is often translated to prime minister in English. The designation, however, is not exclusive. When they visit Quebec, or when they are described by the Quebec government or many Quebec media, all the other heads of government of the other provinces are also called prime minister in the English version of the official French texts. The name of the province is always added to avoid confusion.

The terms prime minister and premier come from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, where there is only one prime minister/premier
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

. The British prime minister is frequently called the "premier" to this day since there is little chance of confusion in that country. Canada's federal prime minister and premiers are collectively referred to as first minister
First Minister
A First Minister is the leader of a government cabinet.-Canada:In Canada, "First Ministers" is a collective term that refers to all Canadian first ministers of the Crown, otherwise known as heads of government, including the Prime Minister of Canada and the provincial and territorial premiers...

s, another synonym of British origin.

Role

Under Canada's system of responsible government, the premier is both a member of the provincial Legislative Assembly and the head of the executive. The Premier normally holds a seat in the Legislative Assembly, being elected in one of the electoral constituencies of the Province. The leader of the party which commands a majority in the Assembly is then legally appointed the Premier by the Lieutenant Governor, acting on behalf of the Crown. The term "Premier" is unofficial. The formal name of the government position held by the Premier is "President of the Executive Council
President of the Executive Council
President of the Executive Council may refer to:*The Governor-General or Governors of the Australian states in Australia and New Zealand, although the actual title is not used*A Premier of a Canadian Province...

" or some similar term, but that formal term is rarely used.

In the ten provinces of Canada, the premier is usually the leader of the largest political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in the provincial legislature
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

, although there are historical exceptions, the most recent occurring after the 1985 general election
Ontario general election, 1985
The Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the 33rd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada...

 in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. The premier is appointed by the lieutenant-governor, who represents both the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...

 and the federal government. The lieutenant-governor is guided by unwritten constitutional rules that only rarely require a judgement call on whom to appoint as premier.

Premiers appoint a provincial cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...

 and guide legislation through the provincial legislature, of which they are a sitting member.

Premiers hold a fair bit of power within the Canadian federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...

, especially in regard to the federal government. In many ways they remain the most effective representatives of provincial interests to the federal government, as Parliament
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...

's strong party discipline
Party discipline
Party discipline is the ability of a parliamentary group of a political party to get its members to support the policies of their party leadership. In liberal democracies, it usually refers to the control that party leaders have over its legislature...

 and other factors have impaired provincial representation there. This reality is acknowledged in annual "first ministers conferences" in which the federal prime minister and the 10 premiers meet to discuss provincial-federal relations. The Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...

 proposed that these meetings be constitutionally mandated, and some premiers have even proposed that these meetings become a formal branch of government, active in the legislative process (see Council of the Federation
Council of the Federation
The Council of the Federation is a council in Canada made up of the premiers of Canada's thirteen provinces and territories. Its main function is to provide a united front amongst the provincial and territorial governments when interacting with Canada's federal government...

). However, only one Canadian provincial premier has ever gone on to serve as prime minister: Sir John Thompson. Canada's first and sixth prime ministers (Sir John A. Macdonald
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...

 and Sir Charles Tupper
Charles Tupper
Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet, GCMG, CB, PC was a Canadian father of Confederation: as the Premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1867, he led Nova Scotia into Confederation. He later went on to serve as the sixth Prime Minister of Canada, sworn in to office on May 1, 1896, seven days after...

) had also been co-premier and premier of British provinces that became part of Canada, but no one who has led a victorious general election campaign in a Canadian province has ever been prime minister.

Canada's three territories have premiers as well, though they are technically known as "government leaders". The Premier of Yukon
Premier of Yukon
The Premier of Yukon is the first minister for the Canadian territory of Yukon. They are the territory's head of government and de facto chief executive, although their powers are considerably smaller than that of a provincial premier.From 1978 to 1990 and from 1992 to 1996, the term Government...

 is chosen in the usual fashion, but the premiers of Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...

 and Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...

 are selected from within the small and non-partisan
Non-partisan democracy
Nonpartisan democracy is a system of representative government or organization such that universal and periodic elections take place without reference to political parties.-Overview:...

 elected territorial councils.

See also

  • Premiers of the Australian states
    Premiers of the Australian states
    The Premiers of the Australian states are the de facto heads of the executive governments in the six states of the Commonwealth of Australia. They perform the same function at the state level as the Prime Minister of Australia performs at the national level. The territory equivalents to the...

  • Governor (United States)
    Governor (United States)
    In the United States, the title governor refers to the chief executive of each state or insular territory, not directly subordinate to the federal authorities, but the political and ceremonial head of the state.-Role and powers:...

     – similar position of state government in the United States
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

  • List of female premiers in Canada – lists the women who have served as provincial or territorial premiers in Canadian history
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