Treasury Board
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1867 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Canada |
| Minister responsible | |
| Parent department | Queen's Privy Council for Canada |
| Website | https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat.html |
The Treasury Board (French: Conseil du trésor) is the central agency that reviews and approves spending by the Government of Canada.[1] The President of the Treasury Board is a member of the federal Cabinet.
As stated on the Treasury Board's website[2]:
"The Treasury Board is responsible for accountability and ethics, financial, personnel and administrative management, comptrollership, approving regulations and most Orders-in-Council."
Role[edit]
The Canadian Cabinet is arranged into several committees with varying responsibilities, but all other ones are informal structures and frequently change. Currently organised under the Financial Administration Act,[3] the Treasury Board is the only one created by law and is officially a committee of the Privy Council. Its role in government makes it far more powerful than most Cabinet committees as it is responsible for "accountability and ethics, financial, personnel and administrative management, comptrollership, approving regulations and most Orders-in-Council".[2] It is also unique in that its committee chair, the President of the Treasury Board, is a member of cabinet by virtue of holding that office—other cabinet committees are chaired by minister holding seats in cabinet by virtue of some other office. The Treasury Board is supported by the Treasury Board Secretariat.
The board is the only statutory Cabinet committee and is responsible for the federal civil service and much of the operation of the Canadian government.
Membership[edit]
The Treasury Board is composed of six cabinet ministers, always including its President and the Minister of Finance. The current members, as of February 2020, are as follows:[4]
- Chair: Jean-Yves Duclos, President of the Treasury Board
- Vice-Chair: Joyce Murray, Minister of Digital Government
- Members:
There are also "alternate members", who attend Treasury Board meetings in the event of conflicts of interest. The Governor in Council (a constitutional mechanism that effectuates decisions of the Canadian Cabinet) may appoint as many alternate members as the Board may need. As of February 2020, the following are alternate members of the Treasury Board:
- Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations
- Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
- Mona Fortier, Minister of Middle Class Prosperity
- Dominic LeBlanc, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
- Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue
- Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Veterans Affairs
- Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade
See also[edit]
Related legislation[edit]
- Access to Information Act
- Auditor General Act
- Official Languages Act
- Privacy Act, 1983
- Security of Information Act
References[edit]
- ^ "Treasury Board to oversee Transport Canada's budget decisions". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
- ^ a b "About the Treasury Board". Treasury Board Secretariat. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
- ^ "Financial Administration Act. Part I: Organization. Treasury Board". Department of Justice (Canada). 1985. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
- ^ https://pm.gc.ca/en/cabinet-committee-mandate-and-membership
Bibliography[edit]
- PCO (2018-02-22). "A Drafter's Guide to Cabinet Documents". Government of Canada.
- Treasury Board Secretariat (2013-12-31). "Comparing Types of Cabinet Papers". Government of Canada.
- PCO (2017-12-07). "Memoranda to Cabinet". Government of Canada.
- Treasury Board Secretariat (2016-07-15). "The Business of the Treasury Board". Government of Canada.
- Treasury Board Secretariat (2011-06-02). "ARCHIVED - A Guide to Preparing Treasury Board Submissions". Government of Canada.
- Library and Archives Canada (2017-05-26). "Treasury Board Submissions". Government of Canada.
- Treasury Board Secretariat (June 2016). "Better government with partners, for Canadians: Memorandum to Cabinet and Treasury Board Submission - Why They Are Major Tools for Government". Government of Canada.
- Treasury Board Secretariat (1999-12-01). "Archived - Access to Information Guidelines - Confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada". Government of Canada.
