The Canadian Secretary to the King (french: Secrétaire canadien du Roi) is the senior operational member of the royal household for the

King of Canada The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional Canadian federalism, federal structure and Westminster system, Westminster-style Parliamentar ...

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person ...

. The secretary is the principal channel of communication between the monarch and his

Canadian government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in ...

, and provincial governments, as well as managing the monarch's other correspondence in the Canadian context and drafting speeches the King delivers in Canada or on Canadian topics. The secretary is responsible for advising the prime minister "on matters related to the Canadian Crown, including providing advice on the Government of Canada's heritage-related commemorative initiatives, high level coordination of royal tours to Canada, and state ceremonial and protocol advisory functions." Additionally, the secretary chairs, ''ex-officio'', the

Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments The Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments was established on 4 November 2012 to assist the government of Canada (the Crown- in-Council) with the appointment of the Governor General of Canada, provincial lieutenant governors, and territoria ...

and holds responsibility for the official programme of tours of Canada by members of the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term pa ...

. The office was established as Canadian Secretary to the Queen in 1959. The present office holder is Donald Booth, who was appointed to the position in 2019.

History

The post was created in 1959 as the Canadian adviser to the monarch and coordinator of visits to Canada by members of the royal family. From 1998 to 2005, the office of Canadian Secretary was held by the Sergeant-at-Arms in the House of Commons. From 2005 to 2009, the office remained vacant until

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

appointed the

Usher of the Black Rod Black Rod (officially known as the Lady Usher of the Black Rod or, if male, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod) is an official in the parliaments of several Commonwealth countries. The position originates in the House of Lords of the Parliam ...

to the position. In 2012, Stephen Harper made the position of Canadian Secretary to the Queen a standalone position with a mandate to "advise the Prime Minister on matters relating to the Canadian Crown." During Harper's tenure as prime minister, the role of the Canadian Secretary to the Queen was expanded, with the secretary chairing the

. In November 2015, responsibility for the Canadian Secretary to the Queen was transferred from the Privy Council Office to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, than headed by Pablo Rodríguez. As a result, the office no longer reported directly to the Prime Minister. The roles and responsibilities formerly exercised by the office were assumed by the Department of Canadian Heritage from 2015 to 2019. The advisory committee on vice-regal appointments was disbanded following Harper's defeat in the 2015 federal election, and remains "dormant". After remaining vacant for nearly three years, the position was filled in 2019 by Donald Booth, a federal civil servant who concurrently holds the position as director of the strategic policy in the Machinery of Government branch of the Privy Council Office. In the same year, the responsibility for the Canadian Secretary to the Queen were transferred back from the Department of Canadian Heritage to the Privy Council Office.

List of Canadian Secretaries to the monarch

Before 2012 the role was mainly for the duration of a royal tour of Canada.

References

External links

Government of Canada: Vice-Regal Appointments
{{Canadian monarchy Monarchy in Canada

History

List of Canadian Secretaries to the monarch

See also

References

External links