President of the King's Privy Council for Canada explained

Post:	President of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Insigniasize:	200px
Incumbent:	Harjit Sajjan
Incumbentsince:	July 26, 2023
Department:	King's Privy Council for Canada
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:	1 July 1867
Inaugural:	Adam Johnston Fergusson Blair

In the Canadian cabinet, the president of the King's Privy Council for Canada (French: président du Conseil privé du Roi pour le Canada) is nominally in charge of the Privy Council Office. The president of the Privy Council also has the largely ceremonial duty of presiding over meetings of the Privy Council, a body which only convenes in full for affairs of state such as the accession of a new Sovereign or the marriage of the Prince of Wales or heir presumptive to the Throne. Accordingly, the last time the president of the Privy Council had to preside over a meeting of the Privy Council was in 2022 for the proclamation of the accession of King Charles III. It is the equivalent of the office of lord president of the council in the United Kingdom.

Under Prime Ministers Pierre Trudeau and Joe Clark the position was synonymous with that of government house leader. In 1989, the government house leader became a separate position and the president of the Privy Council became a largely honorary title (not unlike that of deputy prime minister of Canada) given to a senior minister in addition to other portfolios. From 1993 it has regularly been held by whoever holds the portfolio of minister of intergovernmental affairs. In the past decade the position has generally been seen to be the closest thing to a sinecure posting within the Cabinet.

The current president of the Privy Council is Harjit Sajjan.

List of presidents of the Privy Council

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Party		Prime Minister ----Cabinet		Monarch
1		Adam Johnston Fergusson Blair	1867	1867		Liberal		Macdonald ----1st	Victoria
–		John A. Macdonald	1867	1869		Liberal- Conservative
2		Joseph Howe	1869	1869		Liberal- Conservative
3		Edward Kenny	1869	1870		Conservative
4		Charles Tupper	1870	1872		Conservative
5		John O'Connor	1872	1873		Conservative
–		John A. Macdonald	1873	1873		Liberal- Conservative
6		Hugh McDonald	1873	1873		Liberal- Conservative
–		John A. Macdonald	1873	1873		Liberal- Conservative
–		Alexander Mackenzie	1873	1874		Liberal		Mackenzie ----2nd
7		Lucius Seth Huntington	1874	1875		Liberal
–		Alexander Mackenzie	1875	1875		Liberal
8		Joseph-Édouard Cauchon	1875	1877		Conservative
9		Edward Blake	1877	1878		Liberal
–		Alexander Mackenzie	1878	1878		Liberal
(5)		John O'Connor	1878	1880		Conservative		Macdonald ----3rd
10		Louis-Rodrigue Masson	1880	1880		Conservative
–		John A. Macdonald	1880	1880		Liberal- Conservative
11		Joseph-Alfred Mousseau	1880	1881		Conservative
12		Archibald McLelan	1881	1882		Conservative
–		John A. Macdonald	1882	1883		Liberal- Conservative
13		John A. Macdonald	1883	1889		Liberal- Conservative
14		Charles Carroll Colby	1889	1891		Liberal- Conservative
–		John A. Macdonald	1891	1891		Liberal- Conservative
15		John Abbott	1891	1892		Liberal- Conservative		Abbott ----4th
–		John Sparrow David Thompson	1892	1892		Liberal- Conservative		Thompson ----5th
16		William Bullock Ives	1892	1894		Conservative
17		Mackenzie Bowell	1894	1896		Conservative		Bowell ----6th
18		Auguste-Réal Angers	1896	1896		Conservative		Tupper ----7th
19		Wilfrid Laurier	1896	1911		Liberal		Laurier ----8th
									Edward VII
									George V
20		Robert Borden	1911	1917		Conservative		Borden ----9th, 10th
21		Newton Rowell	1917	1920		Unionist
22		James Alexander Calder	1920	1921		Unionist		Meighen ----11th
23		Louis-Philippe Normand	1921	1921		Conservative
24		William Lyon Mackenzie King	1921	1926		Liberal		King ----12th
25		Arthur Meighen	1926	1926		Conservative		Meighen ----13th
(24)		William Lyon Mackenzie King	1926	1930		Liberal		King ----14th
26		R. B. Bennett	1930	1935		Conservative		Bennett ----15th
(24)		William Lyon Mackenzie King	1935	1948		Liberal		King ----16th
									Edward VIII
									George VI
27		Louis St. Laurent	1948	1957		Liberal		St. Laurent ----17th
									Elizabeth II
28		Lionel Chevrier	1957	1957		Liberal
29		John Diefenbaker	1957	1961		Progressive Conservative		Diefenbaker ----18th
30		Noël Dorion	1961	1962		Progressive Conservative
–		John Diefenbaker	1962	1962		Progressive Conservative
(29)		John Diefenbaker	1962	1963		Progressive Conservative
31		Maurice Lamontagne	1963	1964		Liberal		Pearson ----19th
32		George McIlraith	1964	1965		Liberal
33		Guy Favreau	1965	1967		Liberal
34		Walter L. Gordon	1967	1968		Liberal
–		Pierre Trudeau	1968	1968		Liberal
								P. Trudeau ----20th
–		Allan MacEachen	1968	1968		Liberal
35		Donald Stovel Macdonald	1968	1970		Liberal
36		Allan MacEachen	1970	1974		Liberal
37		Mitchell Sharp	1974	1976		Liberal
(36)		Allan MacEachen	1976	1979		Liberal
38		Walter Baker	1979	1980		Progressive Conservative		Clark ----21st
39		Yvon Pinard	1980	1984		Liberal		P. Trudeau ----22nd
40		André Ouellet	1984	1984		Liberal		Turner ----23rd
41		Erik Nielsen	1984	1985		Progressive Conservative		Mulroney ----24th
42		Ray Hnatyshyn	1985	1986		Progressive Conservative
43		Don Mazankowski	1986	1991		Progressive Conservative
44		Joe Clark	1991	1993		Progressive Conservative
45		Pierre Blais	1993	1993		Progressive Conservative		Campbell ----25th
46		Marcel Massé	1993	1996		Liberal		Chrétien ----26th
47		Stéphane Dion	1996	2003		Liberal
48		Denis Coderre	2003	2004		Liberal		Martin ----27th
49		Lucienne Robillard	2004	2006		Liberal
50		Michael Chong	2006	2006		Conservative		Harper ----28th
51		Peter Van Loan	2006	2007		Conservative
52		Rona Ambrose	2007	2008		Conservative
53		Josée Verner	2008	2011		Conservative
54		Peter Penashue	2011	2013		Conservative
55		Denis Lebel	2013	2015		Conservative
56		Maryam Monsef^[3] ^[4]	2015	2017		Liberal		J. Trudeau ----29th
57		Karina Gould^[5]	2017	2018		Liberal
58		Dominic LeBlanc	2018	2021		Liberal
59		Bill Blair	2021	26 July 2023		Liberal
									Charles III
60		Harjit Sajjan	2023	Incumbent		Liberal

External links

• Privy Council Office

Notes and References

1. Web site: Constitutional Duties. The Governor General of Canada. 2020-04-20.
2. Web site: House of Commons Procedure and Practice - 1. Parliamentary Institutions - Canadian Parliamentary Institutions. www.ourcommons.ca. 2020-04-20.
3. Web site: Tim Naumetz . November 9, 2015 . Youngest Cabinet minister Monsef also President of Queen's Privy Council . The Privy Council Office confirmed in response to questions from The Hill Times that Ms. Monsef had been designated as President of the Queen’s Privy Council, but as of late Monday had not confirmed whether she was sworn into the office or exactly when she will be. . The Hill Times.
4. http://www.lop.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/Files/Parliamentarian.aspx?Item=60df4944-d66b-4133-a348-2bcde37c8752&Language=E&Section=ALL Parliament of Canada biography
5. Web site: ParlInfo Has Moved .