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The Two Clerks: Parliamentary Discussion of the Role of the Privy Council Office

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2009

J. R. Mallory
Affiliation:
McGill University

Abstract

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Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 1977

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References

1 Crossman, Richard, Inside View (London: Cape, 1974)Google Scholar; Smith, Denis, “President and Parliament,” in Hockin, Thomas (ed.), Apex of Power (Toronto: Prentice Hall, 1970).Google Scholar At least one member, Mr. David Orlikow, who was active in the debate, had read the Crossman Diaries in The Sunday Times.

2 See, for example, Robertson, Gordon, “The Changing Role of the Privy Council Office,” Canadian Public Administration 14/4 (Winter 1971), 490CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Doern, Bruce, “Horizontal and Vertical Portfolios in Government,” in Doern, G. Bruce and Wilson, V. Seymour (eds.), Issues in Canadian Public Policy (Toronto: Macmillan, 1974), 310Google Scholar; Mallory, J. R., “Responsive and Responsible Government,” Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Fourth Series, 12 (1974), 208.Google Scholar

3 Public Archives of Canada, Guide to Canadian Ministries Since Confederation (Ottawa, 1957), 8.Google Scholar

4 Canada, House of Commons Debates, December 18, 1974, 2364.Google Scholar

5 I recall being told by one of his ablest successors that even Lord Hankey had lingered far too long in office for the good of the service.

6 The Things that are Caesar's (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1972), 202.

7 Canada, House of Commons Debates, December 18, 1974, 2365.Google Scholar Subsequently, the Prime Minister felt impelled to reply to the allegations about Mr. Pitfield's lack of experience and qualifications for the post of Secretary to the Cabinet. He said: “He has been in the public service for more than 16 years, two of them as deputy minister. It is a fact that when I first came to public office he was already an assistant secretary to the cabinet. It is a fact that he is young and that I have got to know him well since I came to Ottawa. I had met him a few times previous to that, when I believe he was working for one of the ministers in Mr. Diefenbaker's government…. I do not see cause to discriminate against him for either of those reasons. The simple fact that he is a highly skilled civil servant should suffice to overwhelm the argument of either his youth or his acquaintance with me.” Ibid., May 22, 1975, 6014.

8 Ibid., December 18, 1974, 2370.

9 Ibid., 2376.

10 Ibid., March 23, 1956, 1436.

11 Public Archives of Canada, Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation (Ottawa: Information Canada, 1974), 111.Google Scholar

12 Standing Committee on Miscellaneous Estimates. Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, May 12, 1975, 33:9.

13 Ibid., 33:6.

14 Ibid., 33:10–11.

15 Ibid., 33:17.

16 Ibid., May 20, 1975, 36:27.

17 Ibid., 36:18–19.

18 Canada, House of Commons Debates, March 24, 1975, 4401.Google Scholar The Report appears in Votes and Proceedings, March 14, 1975, 372–376.

19 Standing Committee on Procedure and Organization. Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, March 11, 1975, 5:40.

20 Canada, House of Commons Debates, May 22, 1975, 6007.Google Scholar

21 Ibid., 6015.

22 Ibid., 6013.

23 Ibid., 6014.

24 Ibid., 6017.

25 The best account is Simeon, Richard, Federal-Provincial Diplomacy (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1972).Google Scholar

26 Standing Committee on Miscellaneous Estimates. Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, May 20, 1975, 36:31. The duties of the secretariat were set out in the 1974 Estimates, and the order in council making the necessary arrangements under the Financial Administration Act, the Public Service Employment Act, and the Public Service Staff Relations Act, is P.C. 1973–3698 of November 29, 1973. Ibid., 36:31–37.

27 Crossman, Inside View, 44.