The secretary of state for Canada, established in 1867 with a corresponding department, was a Canadian Cabinet position that served as the official channel of communication between Canada and the British government in London.Canada. 1867. "Secretary of State for Canada." House of Commons Debates, 1st Parl, 1st Sess, at 94-95.Scott, R. W. 1874. "Report of the Secretary of State for Canada for the Year Ending on the 30th June, 1873..." Ottawa: I. B. Taylor.

As Canada became increasingly independent after World War I, and particularly with the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, this role fell into disuse. The department was maintained, however, and was used to administer various aspects of government that did not have their own ministry. Accordingly, the secretary of state for Canada was Registrar General of Canada, responsible as such for the Great Seal of Canada and various functions of state associated with it.

At various times the secretary of state for Canada was responsible for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the civil service, the Queen's Printer for Canada, administration of Crown lands, and governance of Canadian Indians (as they were called at the time), as well as various ceremonial and state duties. Generally, any government role and responsibility which was not specifically assigned to a cabinet minister would be the de facto responsibility of the secretary of state.

The department was eliminated in 1993 when the government was reorganized; however, the position of secretary of state for Canada was not legally eliminated until 1996 when its remaining responsibilities were assigned to other cabinet positions and departments, particularly the newly created Minister of Canadian Heritage position.

The position of secretary of state for Canada had no relation to that of secretary of state for external affairs except for the period from 1909 until 1912 when (Charles Murphy under Sir Wilfrid Laurier, and William James Roche under Sir Robert Borden) were responsible for the newly created Department of External Affairs.

Secretaries of state for Canada Legend No.PortraitNameTerm of officePolitical partyMinistry 1Sir Hector-Louis LangevinJuly 1, 1867December 8, 1869Liberal-Conservative1 (Macdonald) 2James Cox AikinsDecember 8, 1869November 5, 1873Liberal-Conservative 3David ChristieNovember 7, 1873January 8, 1874Liberal2 (Mackenzie) 4Sir Richard William ScottJanuary 9, 1874October 8, 1878Liberal(2)James Cox AikinsOctober 19, 1878November 7, 1880Conservative3 (Macdonald) 5John O'ConnorNovember 8, 1880May 19, 1881Conservative 6Joseph-Alfred MousseauMay 20, 1881July 28, 1882Conservative 7Sir Joseph-Adolphe ChapleauJuly 29, 1882June 6, 1891ConservativeJune 16, 1891January 24, 18924 (Abbott) 8James Colebrooke PattersonJanuary 25, 1892November 24, 1892Conservative 9John CostiganDecember 5, 1892December 12, 1894Conservative5 (Thompson) 10Arthur Rupert Dickey December 21, 1894 March 25, 1895Conservative6 (Bowell) 11Walter Humphries Montague March 26, 1895 December 20, 1895 Conservative –Joseph-Aldric Ouimet(Acting)December 21, 1895January 5, 1896Conservative –Thomas Mayne Daly(Acting)January 6, 1896January 14, 1896Conservative 12Sir Charles TupperJanuary 15, 1896April 27, 1896ConservativeMay 1, 1896July 8, 18967 (Tupper)(4)Sir Richard William ScottJuly 13, 1896October 8, 1908Liberal8 (Laurier) 13Charles MurphyOctober 9, 1908October 6, 1911Liberal 14William James RocheOctober 10, 1911October 28, 1912Conservative9 (Borden) 15Louis CoderreOctober 29, 1912October 5, 1915Conservative 16Pierre Édouard BlondinOctober 6, 1915January 7, 1917Conservative 17Esioff-Léon Patenaude January 8, 1917June 12, 1917Conservative –Albert Sévigny(Acting) June 13, 1917August 24, 1917Conservative 18Arthur Meighen August 25, 1917October 12, 1917Conservative 19Martin BurrellOctober 12, 1917December 30, 1919Unionist10 (Borden) 20Arthur SiftonDecember 31, 1919July 10, 1920UnionistJuly 10, 1920January 21, 1921National Liberal and Conservative11 (Meighen) –Sir Henry Lumley Drayton(Acting)January 24, 1921September 20, 1921National Liberal and Conservative 21Rodolphe MontySeptember 21, 1921December 29, 1921National Liberal and Conservative 22Arthur Bliss CoppDecember 29, 1921September 24, 1925Liberal12 (King) 23Walter Edward FosterSeptember 26, 1925November 12, 1925Liberal –Charles Murphy(Acting)November 13, 1925March 23, 1926Liberal –Ernest Lapointe(Acting)March 24, 1926June 28, 1926Liberal 24George Halsey PerleyJune 29, 1926September 25, 1926Conservative13 (Meighen) 25Fernand RinfretSeptember 25, 1926August 7, 1930Liberal14 (King) 26Charles CahanAugust 7, 1930October 23, 1935Conservative15 (Bennett)(25)Fernand RinfretOctober 23, 1935July 12, 1939Liberal16 (King) –Ernest Lapointe(Acting - Second time)July 26, 1939May 8, 1940Liberal 27Pierre-François CasgrainMay 9, 1940December 14, 1941Liberal 28Norman Alexander McLartyDecember 15, 1941April 17, 1945Liberal 29Paul Martin Sr.April 18, 1945December 11, 1946Liberal 30Colin W. G. GibsonDecember 12, 1946November 15, 1948LiberalNovember 15, 1948March 31, 194917 (St. Laurent) 31Frederick Gordon BradleyMarch 31, 1949June 11, 1953Liberal 32Jack PickersgillJune 11, 1953 June 30, 1954Liberal 33Roch PinardJuly 1, 1954June 21, 1957Liberal 34Ellen FaircloughChristensen, Martin Iversen. 2016. "Female Members of the Cabinet of Canada." Female Members of the Cabinet of Canada.. Retrieved 7 August 2020.June 21, 1957May 11, 1958Progressive Conservative18 (Diefenbaker) 35Henri CourtemancheMay 12, 1958June 19, 1960Progressive Conservative –Léon Balcer(Acting)June 21, 1960October 10, 1960Progressive Conservative 36Noël DorionOctober 11, 1960July 5, 1962Progressive Conservative –Léon Balcer(Acting - Second time)July 11, 1962August 8, 1962Progressive Conservative 37Ernest HalpennyAugust 9, 1962April 22, 1963Progressive Conservative(32)Jack PickersgillApril 22, 1963February 2, 1964Liberal19 (Pearson) 38Maurice LamontagneFebruary 2, 1964December 17, 1965Liberal 39Judy LaMarshZuschlag, Anna. 2017. "Judy LaMarsh." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 7 August 2020.December 17, 1965April 9, 1968Liberal –John Joseph Connolly(Acting)April 10, 1968April 20, 1968Liberal 40Jean MarchandApril 20, 1968July 5, 1968Liberal20 (P. E. Trudeau) 41Gérard PelletierJuly 5, 1968November 26, 1972Liberal 42Hugh FaulknerNovember 27, 1972September 13, 1976Liberal 43John RobertsSeptember 14, 1976June 3, 1979Liberal 44David MacDonaldJune 4, 1979March 2, 1980Progressive Conservative21 (Clark) 45Francis FoxMarch 3, 1980September 21, 1981Liberal22 (P. E. Trudeau) 46Gerald ReganSeptember 22, 1981October 5, 1982Liberal 47Serge JoyalOctober 6, 1982June 29, 1984LiberalJune 30, 1984September 16, 198423 (Turner) 48Walter McLeanSeptember 17, 1984April 19, 1985Progressive Conservative24 (Mulroney) 49Benoît BouchardApril 20, 1985June 29, 1986Progressive Conservative 50David CrombieJune 30, 1986March 30, 1988Progressive Conservative 51Lucien BouchardMarch 31, 1988January 29, 1989Progressive Conservative 52Gerry WeinerJanuary 30, 1989April 20, 1991Progressive Conservative 53Robert de CotretApril 21, 1991January 3, 1993Progressive Conservative 54Monique LandryJanuary 4, 1993June 24, 1993Progressive ConservativeJune 24, 1993November 3, 199325 (Campbell) 55Sergio MarchiNovember 4, 1993January 24, 1996Liberal26 (Chrétien) 56Lucienne RobillardJanuary 25, 1996July 12, 1996Liberal

See also

Secretary of State for the Provinces - post preceding the minister of interior Minister of the Interior

References