Canadian Prime Minister's Office

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In Canada the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is one of the most powerful parts of the government. It is made up of the Prime Minister and his top political staff.

Canada has one of the most centralized political systems of any democracy with vast amounts of power being given to the Prime Minister, with few checks or balances. Most of the major decisions are made by the PM and the PMO's advice plays a major role.

The PMO is wholly political with staffers appointed by the Prime Minister, not elected members like the Cabinet or full time civil servants. All of what takes place in the PMO is behind closed doors and the public rarely has any idea who the main figures are.

Its most important role is in government appointments. The heads of Crown Corporations and Senators are all made by the Prime Minister, with most of the work behind the decision being made by the PMO. The PMO also includes speech writers, strategists, and public relations staffers, who shape the Prime Minister and government's message. It is also the PMO's job to keep the Prime Minister informed about events that take place in the government and the country. It also acts as a link between the political party organization and the government.

The PMO is comparable to the West Wing at the White House in the United States. The provinces of Canada all have similar organizations. The most famous of these was the Ontario Tories Big Blue Machine that ran that province for many decades.

History

The Prime Ministers Office was a fairly weak and secondary group before Pierre Trudeau became Prime Minister. Under Trudeau, and his top down managerial approach it replaced much of what the Privy Council Office one did. Trudeau's PMO became central to his government and many of his economic and constitutional initiatives were launched solely with the aid and advice of the PMO. Brian Mulroney also had a strong PMO where he could have advice independent from the Liberal leaning civil service and the fractious Tory party. Jean Chretien at first tried to shrink to PMO, relying more on his cabinet, but as his time in government went on and major divisions emerged in the cabinet he came to rely more and more on the PMO. Jean Chretien especially relied on his Chief of Staff and longtime friend Jean Pelletier, who ran the office from 1993 to 2001. New Prime Minister Paul Martin is said to be very reliant on the PMO where he can be sure the members are loyal to him and not to the ousted Chretien.

Composition

The PMO is presided over by the Chief of Staff. The current Chief of Staff is Tim Murphy a former MPP and then Martin's top assistant at the Finance Ministry. The other top member is the Principle Secretary, a position held by former executive Francis Fox. The principle secretary is more concerned with the operation of government while the chief of staff is more concerned with policy and communications.

Below them are separate groups that deal with operations, policy, communications, appointments, finance, personnel, and administration. There tends to be far more change in the PMO's office than there is in cabinet. Brian Mulroney, for instance overhauled his office twice do to sharp drops in the polls.

The PMO is located in the Langevin Block of the Parliament buildings.