Minister of Democratic Institutions

Minister of Democratic Institutions

Incumbent Maryam Monsef since 4 November 2015
Government of Canada
Style	The Honourable
Member of	Cabinet Privy Council
Appointer	Governor General of Canada
Term length	At Her Majesty's pleasure
Inaugural holder	Jacques Saada
Formation	December 12, 2003

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The Minister of Democratic Institutions (previously called the Minister responsible for Democratic Reform and the Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal) is a Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet, associated with the Privy Council Office.

History

Under Martin (2003-2006)

The position was created by Prime Minister Paul Martin when he succeeded Jean Chrétien in December 2003 under the title Minister responsible for Democratic Reform to address the "democratic deficit", an issue Martin campaigned on when he ran for leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

The portfolio was initially held by the Government House Leader, Jacques Saada, in Martin's first cabinet.^[1] After the 2004 election, the portfolio was given to Mauril Bélanger, who was the deputy government house leader.

When Belinda Stronach crossed the floor from the Conservative Party to Liberals on May 17, 2005, she assumed responsibilities for the portfolio along with the post of Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development. At this point the title was changed from "Democratic Reform" to "Democratic Renewal".^[2]

Under Harper (2006-2015)

Under the premiership of Stephen Harper, the post was first held by his first two House Leaders (Rob Nicholson and Peter Van Loan) as "Leader of the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform". In 2008, the role was taken up by Steven Fletcher as "Minister of State (Democratic Reform)" and the same title was subsequently held by Pierre Poilievre.

Under J. Trudeau (2015-)

In the ministry of Justin Trudeau, who was elected on campaign promises of electoral reform, the portfolio was assigned to Maryam Monsef in November 2015, under the new title "Minister of Democratic Institutions".

The minister has been instructed to table an action plan outlining proposals to reform the operations of the Canadian House of Commons in order to increase the role of individual Members of Parliament in the House and its committees. Proposals include allowing more free votes, giving committees more authority, increase research budgets, allowing chairs of house committees to be elected rather than appointed by the prime minister, giving MPs a role in choosing which committees they sit on rather than having them assigned by the prime minister or government house leader.^[3]

List of Ministers

Key:

Liberal Party of Canada

Conservative Party of Canada

No.	Name (Portfolio)	Term of office		Political party	Ministry
1	Jacques Saada (Democratic Reform)	December 12, 2003	July 20, 2004	Liberal	27 (Martin)
2	Mauril Bélanger (Democratic Reform)	July 20, 2004	May 18, 2005	Liberal
3	Belinda Stronach (Democratic Renewal)	May 18, 2005	February 6, 2006	Liberal
4	Rob Nicholson (Democratic Reform)	February 6, 2006	January 4, 2007	Conservative	28 (Harper)
5	Peter Van Loan (Democratic Reform)	January 4, 2007	October 30, 2008	Conservative
6	Steven Fletcher (Democratic Reform)	October 30, 2008	May 18, 2011	Conservative
7	Tim Uppal (Democratic Reform)	May 18, 2011	July 15, 2011	Conservative
8	Pierre Poilievre (Democratic Reform)	July 15, 2011	November 4, 2015	Conservative
9	Maryam Monsef (Democratic Institutions)	November 4, 2015	Incumbent	Liberal	29 (J. Trudeau)

References

↑ "Order in Council P.C. 2003-2027". Privy Council Office, Government of Canada. 2003-12-12. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
↑ "Order in Council P.C. 2005-0950". Privy Council Office, Government of Canada. 2005-05-17. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
↑ Justin Trudeau. "Minister of Democratic Institutions Mandate Letter". Prime Minister of Canada.

External links

Government of Canada - Democratic Reform

Cabinet of Canada

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