Prime Minister of Canada

The Prime Minister of Canada, the head of the Canadian government, is usually the leader of the political party with the most seats in the Canadian House of Commons. The Prime Minister has the right to the style of Right Honourable. The current prime minister is the Right Honourable Paul Martin.

Qualifications and selection

The Prime Minister may be any Canadian citizen of voting age (18 years). It is customary for the prime minister to also be a sitting member of the House of Commons and able to speak French and English, although two Prime Ministers have governed from the Senate, Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott & Sir Mackenzie Bowell. If the prime minister should fail to win his or her seat, a junior MP in a safe seat would typically resign to permit a by-election to elect that leader to a seat. However, if the leader of the governing party is changed shortly before an election is due and the new leader is not a Member of Parliament, he or she will normally await the general election before running for a seat. For example, John Turner was briefly Prime Minister in 1984 without being a member of the House of Commons; he would ironically win his seat in the general election that swept him from power. The official residence of the Prime Minister is 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa, Ontario. All Prime Ministers have lived there since Louis St. Laurent in 1951.

Related Topics:
Citizen - Voting age - French - English - John Joseph Caldwell Abbott - Mackenzie Bowell - John Turner - 1984 - 24 Sussex Drive - Ottawa - Ontario - Louis St. Laurent

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In earlier years, it was tradition that the sovereign bestow a knighthood on each new Canadian Prime Minister. As such, several carry the prefix "Sir" before their name (of the first 8 Prime Ministers, only Alexander Mackenzie refused knighthood). Since the Nickle Resolution, it is against policy for the sovereign to grant titles to Canadians.

Related Topics:
Knighthood - Alexander Mackenzie - Nickle Resolution

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~