| Post: | Minister of Justice Attorney General |
| Body: | Canada |
| Flagsize: | 200px |
| Incumbent: | Arif Virani |
| Incumbentsince: | July 26, 2023 |
| Department: | Department of Justice |
| Style: | The Honourable |
| Appointer: | Monarch (represented by the governor general);[1] |
| Appointer Qualified: | on the advice of the prime minister[2] |
| Termlength: | genderp=~}}}} Majesty's pleasure |
| Formation: | July 1, 1867 |
| Inaugural: | Sir John A. Macdonald |
| Abbreviation: | MoJAG[3] |
The minister of justice and attorney general of Canada is a dual-role portfolio in the Canadian Cabinet.[4]
The officeholder in the role of Minister of Justice serves as the minister of the Crown responsible for the Department of Justice and the justice portfolio, and in the role of Attorney General,[5] litigates on behalf of the Crown and serves as the chief legal advisor to the Government of Canada. (Though most prosecution functions of the attorney general have been assigned to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. The attorney general is supported in this role by the director of public prosecutions.)
The role was created in 1867 to replace the attorney general of Canada West and attorney general of Canada East.
As the top prosecuting officer in Canada, 'attorney general' is a separate title held by the minister of justice—a member of the Cabinet. The minister of justice is concerned with questions of policy and their relationship to the justice system. In their role as attorney general, they are the chief law officer of the Crown. The roles have been connected since confederation. As a result of controversy, following the SNC-Lavalin affair, Anne McLellan was appointed to review the roles and prepare a report on whether they should be separated. She recommended the positions remain combined.[6] [7]
This cabinet position is usually reserved for someone holding a legal qualification. There have been exceptions: Joe Clark only studied the first year of law at Dalhousie University before transferring to University of British Columbia Faculty of Law and dropping out to embark on political life.[8]
This cabinet portfolio has been held by many individuals who went on to become prime minister including John Sparrow David Thompson, R. B. Bennett, Louis St Laurent, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, John Turner, Kim Campbell and Jean Chrétien (Clark became MoJAG after his time as prime minister). This is the only Canadian Ministry (other than that of the prime minister) which has not been reorganized since its creation in 1867.
A separate cabinet position, the minister of public safety (formerly known as the "solicitor general") administers the law enforcement agencies (police, prisons, and security) of the federal government.
Key:
| No. | Portrait | Name | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sir John A. Macdonald | July 1, 1867 | November 5, 1873 | Liberal-Conservative | 1 (Macdonald) | |
| 2 | Antoine-Aimé Dorion | November 7, 1873 | May 31, 1874 | Liberal | 2 (Mackenzie) | |
| – | Sir Albert James Smith (Acting) | June 1, 1874 | July 7, 1874 | Liberal | ||
| 3 | Télesphore Fournier | July 8, 1874 | May 18, 1875 | Liberal | ||
| 4 | Edward Blake | May 19, 1875 | June 7, 1877 | Liberal | ||
| 5 | Rodolphe Laflamme | June 8, 1877 | October 8, 1878 | Liberal | ||
| 6 | James McDonald | October 17, 1878 | May 18, 1881 | Conservative (historical) | 3 (Macdonald) | |
| 7 | Alexander Campbell | May 20, 1881 | September 24, 1885 | Conservative (historical) | ||
| 8 | Sir John Thompson | September 26, 1885 | June 6, 1891 | Conservative (historical) | ||
| June 16, 1891 | November 24, 1892 | 4 (Abbott) | ||||
| December 5, 1892 | December 12, 1894 | 5 (Thompson) | ||||
| 9 | Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper | December 21, 1894 | January 5, 1896 | Conservative (historical) | 6 (Bowell) | |
| – | Thomas Mayne Daly (Acting) | January 6, 1896 | January 14, 1896 | Liberal-Conservative | ||
| 10 | Arthur Rupert Dickey | January 15, 1896 | April 27, 1896 | Conservative (historical) | ||
| May 1, 1896 | July 8, 1896 | 7 (Tupper) | ||||
| 11 | Sir Oliver Mowat | July 13, 1896 | November 17, 1897 | Liberal | 8 (Laurier) | |
| 12 | David Mills | November 18, 1897 | February 7, 1902 | Liberal | ||
| 13 | Charles Fitzpatrick | February 11, 1902 | June 3, 1906 | Liberal | ||
| 14 | Sir Allen Aylesworth | June 4, 1906 | October 6, 1911 | Liberal | ||
| 15 | Charles Doherty | October 10, 1911 | July 9, 1920 | Conservative (historical) | 9•10 (Borden) | |
| July 10, 1920 | September 20, 1921 | 11 (Meighen) | ||||
| 16 | R. B. Bennett | October 4, 1921 | December 28, 1921 | Conservative (historical) | ||
| 17 | Lomer Gouin | December 29, 1921 | January 3, 1924 | Liberal | 12 (King) | |
| 18 | Ernest Lapointe (1st time) | January 4, 1924 (Acting until Jan.30) | June 28, 1926 | Liberal | ||
| – | Hugh Guthrie (Acting) | June 29, 1926 | July 12, 1926 | Conservative (historical) | 13 (Meighen) | |
| 19 | Esioff-Léon Patenaude | July 13, 1926 | September 24, 1926 | Conservative (historical) | ||
| (18) | Ernest Lapointe (2nd time) | September 25, 1926 | August 6, 1930 | Liberal | 14 (King) | |
| 20 | Hugh Guthrie | August 7, 1930 | August 11, 1935 | Conservative (historical) | 15 (Bennett) | |
| 21 | George Reginald Geary | August 14, 1935 | October 22, 1935 | Conservative (historical) | ||
| (18) | Ernest Lapointe (3rd time) | October 23, 1935 | November 26, 1941 | Liberal | 16 (King) | |
| – | Joseph-Enoil Michaud (Acting) | November 27, 1941 | December 9, 1941 | Liberal | ||
| 22 | Louis St. Laurent (1st time) | December 10, 1941 | December 9, 1946 | Liberal | ||
| 23 | James Lorimer Ilsley | December 10, 1946 | June 30, 1948 | Liberal | ||
| (22) | Louis St. Laurent (2nd time) | July 1, 1948 (Acting until Sep.10) | November 14, 1948 | Liberal | ||
| 24 | Stuart Garson | November 15, 1948 | June 20, 1957 | Liberal | 17 (St. Laurent) | |
| 25 | Davie Fulton | June 21, 1957 | August 8, 1962 | Progressive Conservative | 18 (Diefenbaker) | |
| 26 | Donald Fleming | August 9, 1962 | April 21, 1963 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| 27 | Lionel Chevrier | April 22, 1963 | February 2, 1964 | Liberal | 19 (Pearson) | |
| 28 | Guy Favreau | February 3, 1964 | June 29, 1965 | Liberal | ||
| – | George McIlraith (Acting) | June 30, 1965 | July 6, 1965 | Liberal | ||
| 29 | Lucien Cardin | July 7, 1965 | April 3, 1967 | Liberal | ||
| 30 | Pierre Trudeau | April 4, 1967 | April 19, 1968 | Liberal | ||
| April 20, 1968 | July 5, 1968 | 20 (P. E. Trudeau) | ||||
| 31 | John Turner | July 6, 1968 | January 27, 1972 | Liberal | ||
| 32 | Otto Lang (1st time) | January 28, 1972 | September 25, 1975 | Liberal | ||
| 33 | Ron Basford | September 26, 1975 | August 2, 1978 | Liberal | ||
| (32) | Otto Lang (2nd time) | August 3, 1978 (Acting until Aug.9) | November 23, 1978 | Liberal | ||
| 34 | Marc Lalonde | November 24, 1978 | June 3, 1979 | Liberal | ||
| 35 | Jacques Flynn | June 4, 1979 | March 2, 1980 | Progressive Conservative | 21 (Clark) | |
| 36 | Jean Chrétien | March 3, 1980 | September 9, 1982 | Liberal | 22 (P. E. Trudeau) | |
| 37 | Mark MacGuigan | September 10, 1982 | June 29, 1984 | Liberal | ||
| 38 | Donald Johnston | June 30, 1984 | September 16, 1984 | Liberal | 23 (Turner) | |
| 39 | John Crosbie | September 17, 1984 | June 29, 1986 | Progressive Conservative | 24 (Mulroney) | |
| 40 | Ray Hnatyshyn | June 30, 1986 | December 7, 1988 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| – | Joe Clark (Acting) | December 8, 1988 | January 29, 1989 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| 41 | Doug Lewis | January 30, 1989 | February 22, 1990 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| 42 | Kim Campbell | February 23, 1990 | January 3, 1993 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| 43 | Pierre Blais | January 4, 1993 | June 24, 1993 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| June 25, 1993 | November 3, 1993 | 25 (Campbell) | ||||
| 44 | Allan Rock | November 4, 1993 | June 10, 1997 | Liberal | 26 (Chrétien) | |
| 45 | Anne McLellan | June 11, 1997 | January 14, 2002 | Liberal | ||
| 46 | Martin Cauchon | January 15, 2002 | December 11, 2003 | Liberal | ||
| 47 | Irwin Cotler | December 12, 2003 | February 5, 2006 | Liberal | 27 (Martin) | |
| 48 | Vic Toews | February 6, 2006 | January 3, 2007 | Conservative | 28 (Harper) | |
| 49 | Rob Nicholson | January 4, 2007 | July 13, 2013 | Conservative | ||
| 50 | Peter MacKay | July 13, 2013 | November 4, 2015 | Conservative | ||
| 51 | Jody Wilson-Raybould | November 4, 2015 | January 14, 2019 | Liberal | 29 (J. Trudeau) | |
| 52 | David Lametti | January 14, 2019 | July 26, 2023 | Liberal | ||
| 53 | Arif Virani | July 26, 2023 | Incumbent | Liberal | ||