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Canada barely has any laws requiring the existence of a prime minister. We elect a parliament. Then one of them goes to the Governor general and says "I have s
by mabbo 7y ago
Canada barely has any laws requiring the existence of a prime minister.
We elect a parliament. Then one of them goes to the Governor general and says "I have support of the majority of the members", and voila: they are the Prime Minister.
Could be any member, from any party, for any reason, just so long as the majority of MPs support the person.
And once that person is PM, that just means they sit in and control the Prime Minister's office, and choose the Cabinet.
After that, they're just a figurehead who happens to be the MP with the most power.
My Hail-Mary hope for this next election is that Jody Wilson-Rayboul reruns as an independent, wins, then Trudeau gets a minority and gets kicked out as head of the Liberals. This leaves a strange minority government situation that is perfect for Jody to take charge as the first independent PM. (It could happen!)
- pmyteh 7y agoVery few laws in the UK requiring a prime minister either. That said, there is one missing power which is critically important: the Queen acts by convention on the advice of her ministers, and by convention that is the advice of her prime minister. So although there's very little legal power to the office of PM in either Canada or the UK, by effectively controlling the use of the Crown's prerogative powers its a very powerful office indeed. Of course, the convention could change, and the Queen take someone else's advice. But that would be a major constitutional change that would make today's relatively small development pale into insignificance.