List of Canadian Leaders of the Government in the House of Commons
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Prior to 1944 the Prime Minister of Canada had the responsibilities of coordinating House of Commons business. In 1944, William Lyon Mackenzie King designated those responsibilities to one of his Cabinet ministers. The position of Leader of the Government in the House of Commons was formally recognized in 1946. It first became a full time position in 1968 when Pierre Trudeau assigned the responsibilities to the position of President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. The association of the Privy Council President with the House Leader portfolio ended in 1989.
Government House Leader is not technically a cabinet-level post, but rather a parliamentary office, so in order to qualify for cabinet membership the individual must be named to cabinet in some other capacity. In recent years, with the position evolved into a full-time job, House Leaders have been named to cabinet as Ministers of State with no portfolio specified. The Martin government has taken to styling these positions so that the Minister of State title is effectively invisible.
List of Government House Leaders.
1. The Turner Ministry never convened the House, so Ouellet never technically served as Government House Leader. He was also named "Minister of State for Economic and Regional Development".
2. During this period Erik Nielsen, the Conservative House Leader when the party had been in Opposition, had the position of President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice this meant that Nielsen was senior Government House Leader in all but name and that Hnatyshyn was, in practice, Nielsen's deputy despite having the title of Government House Leader. This situation ended when Hnatyshyn became President of the Privy Council on February 27, 1985.
3. From August 27 1987 Mazankowski was also President of the Treasury Board (until March 30 1988) and Minister responsible for Privatization and Regulatory Affairs (until January 29 1989). From September 15 1988 he was also Minister of Agriculture.
4. The Campbell Ministry never convened the House, so Lewis never technically served as Government House Leader