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Canadian Secretary to the King

Canadian Secretary to the King
FieldValue
postCanadian Secretary to the King
native_nameSecrétaire canadien du Roi
incumbentDonald Booth
incumbentsinceNovember 2019
departmentPrivy Council Office
formation1959
firstHoward Graham

The Canadian secretary to the king () is the senior operational member of the royal household for the monarch of Canada, presently King Charles III. 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.

Purpose

The secretary is the principal channel of communication between the monarch and his Canadian government 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. They are 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 [...] and state ceremonial and protocol advisory functions," such as royal jubilees.

The secretary is also responsible for the programme of tours of Canada by members of the royal family before it was disbanded in 2015.

History

The post was created in 1959 and was deliberately made separate from the governor general's staff; though, it had ties to Rideau Hall and complemented the viceregal household. The secretary acted as the Canadian adviser to the monarch and coordinator of tours of Canada by members of the royal family. He was thus appointed on an ad hoc basis until 1998, when the secretary would serve for an indeterminate length of time and, until 2005, was always the sergeant-at-arms of the House of Commons. From 2005 to 2009, the office remained vacant until Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed the Usher of the Black Rod to the position.

In 2012, Harper made the office a standalone position with a mandate to "advise the prime minister on matters relating to the Canadian Crown."

[[Kevin S. MacLeod]], the Canadian Secretary to the Queen from 2009 to 2017

In November 2015, responsibility for the Canadian secretary to the queen was transferred from the Privy Council Office to the minister of Canadian heritage, at the time Pablo Rodríguez. As a result, the office no longer reported directly to the prime minister.

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 was transferred back 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.

NameTenureNotesMonarch
H.F. Fever and Charles Stein1957Both were not formally serving in the role, but coordinated the 1957 Elizabeth II's royal tour to Ottawa. Both were employed by the Civil Service of Canada.[[File:Queen Elizabeth II official portrait for 1959 tour (retouched) (cropped) (3-to-4 aspect ratio).jpg127x127px]]Elizabeth II
(1952–2022)
Lieutenant General Howard Graham1959; 1967Served during the 1959 and 1967 royal tours.
Christopher Campbell Eberts1964Served during the 1964 royal tour to PEI, Quebec and Ottawa. Canadian diplomat.
Brigadier General Perry Stewart Cooper1970–1973Served during the 1970 tour of the Northwest Territories and Manitoba; the 1971 tour of British Columbia; and the 1973 tour of Alberta, Ontario as well as Ottawa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan. Gazetted 28 November 1970 (1970–1972) and Gazetted 13 January 1973.
Michel Gauvin1975–1977Served during the 1976 tour of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec (including the 1976 Summer Olympics); and the 1977 royal tour of the National Capital Region during the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II. Gazetted 6 December 1975 and 4 June 1977. Retired Major and diplomat.
Henry F. Davis1978–1982Served during the 1978 royal tour of Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, and Alberta; and the 1982 royal tour to the National Capital Region for the proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1982. Gazetted on 4 March 1978.
Lieutenant Commander Lawrence James Wallace1983Served during the 1983 royal tour to British Columbia. Gazetted on 8 January 1983.
Major General Roland Antoine Reid1984Served during the 1984 royal tour to New Brunswick, Ontario and Manitoba. Gazetted 21 January 1984.
Hon. Léon Balcer, PC1987Served during the 1987 tour of British Columbia (for a CHOGM), Saskatchewan, Quebec. Did not complete tour due to ill health. Order-in-Council (OIC) 1987–1988.
John Crosbie Perlin1989–1991Tour of Alberta and Ottawa for Canada Day, 1990. OIC 1990-0292.
Rick Hansen1992Served during the 1992 royal to Ottawa for the 125 anniversary of Canada. Did not complete tour due to a fall. OIC 1992-0280.
Major General Maurice Gaston Cloutier1994–2005Royal Tours of 1994, 1997, 2002, 2005 OICs 1995-0191, 1996-1688, 1998-0510.
Kevin S. MacLeod2009–2017title=PM announces the appointment of Kevin MacLeod as Canadian Secretary to the Queenpublisher=Office of the Prime Ministerdate=1 April 2009url=http://pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=2501access-date=5 April 2009url-status=deadarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090405014141/http://pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=2501archive-date=5 April 2009}}
Donald Booth2019–2022Public servant with the Privy Council Office.
2022–present[[File:King Charles III (July 2023).jpg125x125px]]

References

References

  1. Treble, Patricia. (8 July 2010). "The Queen's man on the ground". Rogers Communications.
  2. Jackson, Michael D.. (2013). "The Crown and Canadian Federalism". Dundurn Press.
  3. Jackson, D. Michael. (2020). "Royal Progress: Canada's Monarchy in the Age of Disruption". Dundern.
  4. Office of the Prime Minister of Canada. (4 November 2012). "Terms of reference: Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments". Queen's Printer for Canada.
  5. (December 9, 2019). "After years of mixed messages, Trudeau signals he's treating the Crown more seriously". National Post.
  6. McGregor, Janyce. (7 November 2015). "Justin Trudeau's cabinet: 6 changes found in the fine print". CBC.
  7. Smith, Dale. (December 10, 2019). "After years of mixed messages, Trudeau signals he's treating the Crown more seriously". [[National Post]].
  8. Buckner, Phillip. (2005). "Canada and the End of Empire". UBC Press.
  9. Patriquin, Martin. (5 July 2011). "A royal pain or a PR coup for the PM?". Rogers Communications.
  10. (18 April 1998). "Office of the Registrar General: Appointments". Queen's Printer for Canada.
  11. (1 April 2009). "PM announces the appointment of Kevin MacLeod as Canadian Secretary to the Queen". Office of the Prime Minister.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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