President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada

In the Canadian cabinet the President of The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ( _fr. President du Conseil privé de la Reine pour le Canada) is nominally in charge of the Privy Council Office. The President of the Privy Council also has the largely ceremonial duty of presiding over meetings of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, a body which only convenes in full for affairs of state such as the accession of a new Sovereign or the marriage of the Prince of Wales or heir presumptive to the Throne (see Monarchy in Canada). Accordingly the last time the President of the Privy Council had to preside over a meeting of the Privy Council was in 1981 on the occasion of HRH The Prince of Wales' engagement to Lady Diana Spencer. It is the equivalent of the office of Lord President of the Council in the United Kingdom.

Under Prime Ministers Pierre Trudeau and Joe Clark the position was synonymous with that of Government House Leader. In 1989 the Government House Leader became a separate position and the President of the Privy Council became a largely honorary title (not unlike that of Deputy Prime Minister of Canada) given to a senior minister in addition to other portfolios. From 1993 to the present, with the exception of a brief period from December 12, 2003 to July 19, 2004, it has been held by whoever holds the portfolio of Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. In the past decade the position has generally been seen to be the closest thing to a sinecure posting within the Cabinet.

The position of President is currently held by Rona Ambrose.

Presidents of the Privy Council

1.	Adam Johnston Fergusson Blair	under Macdonald	July 1 1867 - December 29 1867
	"vacant"	under Macdonald	December 30 1867 - January 29 1869
2.	Joseph Howe	under Macdonald	January 30 1869 - November 15 1869
3.	Edward Kenny	under Macdonald	November 16 1869 - June 20 1870
4.	Charles Tupper	under Macdonald	June 21 1870 - July 1 1872
5.	John O'Connor	under Macdonald	July 2 1872 - March 3 1873
6.	Hugh McDonald (politician)	under Macdonald	June 14 1873 - June 30 1873
7.	Lucius Seth Huntington	under Mackenzie	January 20 1874 - October 8 1875
8.	Joseph Édouard Cauchon	under Mackenzie	December 7 1875 - June 7 1877
9.	Edward Blake	under Mackenzie	June 8 1877 - January 17 1878
10.	John O'Connor	under Macdonald	October 17 1878 - January 15 1880
11.	Louis François Rodrigue Masson	under Macdonald	January 16 1880 - July 31 1880
12.	Joseph-Alfred Mousseau	under Macdonald	November 8 1880 - May 19 1881
13.	Archibald Woodbury McLelan	under Macdonald	May 20 1881 - July 9 1882
14.	John A. Macdonald	as PM	October 17 1883 - November 27 1889
15.	Charles Carrol Colby	under Macdonald	November 28 1889 - April 30 1891
16.	John Abbott	as PM	June 16 1891 - November 24 1892
17.	William Bullock Ives	under Thompson	December 7 1892 - December 12 1894
18.	Mackenzie Bowell	as PM	December 21 1894 - April 27 1896
19.	Auguste Réal Angers	under Tupper	May 1 1896 - July 8 1896
20.	Wilfrid Laurier	as PM	July 13 1896 - October 6 1911
21.	Robert Laird Borden	as PM	October 10 1911 - October 12 1917
22.	Newton Wesley Rowell	under Borden	October 12 1917 - July 10 1920
23.	James Alexander Calder	under Meighen	July 10 1920 - September 20 1921
24.	Louis-Philippe Normand	under Meighen	October 4 1921 - December 28 1921
25.	William Lyon Mackenzie King	as PM	December 29 1921 - June 28 1926
26.	Arthur Meighen	as PM	June 29 1926 - July 12 1926
	William Lyon Mackenzie King "(2nd time)"	as PM	September 25 1926 - August 6 1930
27.	Richard Bedford Bennett	as PM	August 7 1930 - October 22 1935
	William Lyon Mackenzie King "(3rd time)"	as PM	October 23 1935 - November 14 1948
28.	Louis Saint-Laurent	as PM	November 15 1948 - April 24 1957
29.	Lionel Chevrier	under St-Laurent	April 25 1957 - June 20 1957
	"vacant"	under Diefenbaker	June 21 1957 - December 27 1961
30.	Noël Dorion	under Diefenbaker	December 28 1961 - July 5 1962
31.	John George Diefenbaker	as PM	December 21 1962 - April 22 1963
32.	Maurice Lamontagne	under Pearson	April 22 1963 - February 2 1964
33.	George James McIlraith	under Pearson	February 3 1964 - July 6 1965
34.	Guy Favreau	under Pearson	July 7 1965 - April 3 1967
35.	Walter L. Gordon	under Pearson	April 4 1967 - March 10 1968
*	Pierre Trudeau "(Acting)"	under Pearson	March 11 1968 - April 20 1968
*	Pierre Trudeau "(Acting) (cont'd)"	as PM	April 20 1968 - May 1 1968
*	Allan MacEachen "(Acting)"	under Trudeau	May 2 1968 - July 5 1968
36.	Donald Stovel Macdonald	under Trudeau	July 6 1968 - September 23 1970
37.	Allan MacEachen	under Trudeau	September 24 1970 - August 7 1974
38.	Mitchell Sharp	under Trudeau	August 8 1974 - September 13 1976
	Allan MacEachen "(2nd time)"	under Trudeau	September 14 1976 - June 3 1979
39.	Walter David Baker	under Clark	June 4 1979 - March 2 1980
40.	Yvon Pinard	under Trudeau	March 3 1980 - June 29 1984
41.	André Ouellet	under Turner	June 30 1984 - September 6 1984
42.	Erik Nielsen	under Mulroney	September 7 1984 - February 26 1985
43.	Ramon John Hnatyshyn	under Mulroney	February 27 1985 - June 29 1986
44.	Don Mazankowski	under Mulroney	June 30 1986 - April 20 1991
45.	Joe Clark	under Mulroney	April 21 1991 - June 24 1993
46.	Pierre Blais	under Campbell	June 25 1993 - November 3 1993
47.	Marcel Massé	under Chrétien	November 4 1993 - January 24 1996
48.	Stéphane Dion	under Chrétien	January 25 1996 - December 11 2003
49.	Denis Coderre	under Martin	December 12 2003 - July 19 2004
50.	Lucienne Robillard	under Martin	July 20 2004 - February 5 2006
51.	Michael Chong	under Harper	February 6 2006 - November 27 2006
52.	Peter Van Loan	under Harper	November 27 2006 - January 3 2007
53.	Rona Ambrose	under Harper	January 4 2007 -

External links

* [http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/ Privy Council Office]