Government House Leader
| Leader of the Government in the House of Commons of Canada (Leader du gouvernement à la Chambre des communes) |
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| Office of the Government House Leader | |
| Style | The Honourable |
| Member of | |
| Nominator | Prime Minister of Canada |
| Appointer | Governor General of Canada |
| Term length | At Her Majesty's pleasure |
| Inaugural holder | Ian Alistair Mackenzie |
| Formation | October 14, 1944 |
| Deputy | Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons |
| Salary | $255,300 (2017) |
| Website | www.houseleader.gc.ca |
The Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (French: Leader du gouvernement à la Chambre des communes), more commonly known as the Government House Leader, is the Cabinet minister responsible for planning and managing the government's legislative program in the Canadian House of Commons.
The position is not legally entitled to cabinet standing on its own, so all Government House Leaders must simultaneously hold another portfolio. In recent years, sinecure assignments have been used to give House Leaders cabinet standing while allowing them to focus entirely on house business. The current House Leader is Bardish Chagger.
The Government House Leader works on the government's behalf by negotiating with the House Leaders of the Opposition parties. This often includes discussion over timetables and may include concessions to demands by opposition parties to ensure quick passage of a bill or opposition support. The position is especially crucial during periods of minority government, when no party has a majority in the House and the government must rely on the support of one or more Opposition parties to not only pass its legislative agenda but remain in power. The holder of the position must be an expert in parliamentary procedure in order to argue points of order before the Speaker of the House of Commons as well as be a good strategist and tactician in order to outmanoeuvre the opposition parties.
From 1867 until World War II, the Prime Minister of Canada took upon himself the responsibilities of being Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, organizing and coordinating House of Commons business with the other parties. The expansion of government responsibilities during the war led to Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King deciding to delegate the House leadership to one of his ministers. In 1946, the position of Government House Leader was formally recognized. In 1968, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau designated the Government House Leader as President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.
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