ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the Canadian cabinet's links to its British origins. Individual and collective ministerial responsibility is the dominant conventions which inform ministerial behaviour in Canada when addressing elite turnover. Canada and the United Kingdom share a head of state, the British monarch, who in Canada is represented by the governor general (GG), and at the provincial level of government by the lieutenant governors. The Forsey-Eglington analysis alludes to the relationship between collective ministerial responsibility and ministerial turnover. Violation of the rules may result in a sanction and the power of sanction ultimately lies with the Prime Minister (PM). The story of ministerial appointments in Canada is one that pits the otherwise considerable power of the Canadian PM against the restrictions which are imposed by political institutions and constitutional conventions. A Canadian PM is free to appoint whomever he or she likes to cabinet. Parliamentary characteristics also play a part in shaping the rate of ministerial appointment.
