Government House Leader

For equivalent positions in other countries, see Leader of Government Business (disambiguation).

The Government House Leader, officially known as the leader of the Government in the House of Commons of Canada (French: leader du gouvernement à la Chambre des communes du Canada), is the Cabinet minister responsible for planning and managing the government's legislative program in the House of Commons of Canada. Despite the name of the position it does not refer to the prime minister of Canada, who is the head of government.

Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Leader du gouvernement à la Chambre des communes
Incumbent Steven MacKinnon since January 24, 2025
Privy Council Office
Style	The Honourable
Member of	House of Commons Privy Council Cabinet[1]
Reports to	Prime Minister
Appointer	Monarch (represented by the governor general);[2] on the advice of the prime minister[3]
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Inaugural holder	Ian Alistair Mackenzie
Formation	October 14, 1944
Deputy	Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Website	www.canada.ca/en/leader-government-house-commons.html

History

From 1867 until World War II, prime ministers took upon themselves the responsibilities of being leader of the government in the House of Commons, organizing and coordinating House of Commons business with the other parties. The expansion of government responsibilities during the war led to Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King deciding to delegate the House leadership to one of his ministers. In 1946, the position of government house leader was formally recognized.

In 1968, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau designated the government house leader as president of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. Under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, the roles of government house leader and president of the Privy Council were separated in 1989. Under Mulroney and his successors, the position of house leader would often be held by someone who was named a minister of state without any portfolio responsibilities specified. Since 2003, this minister of state status has been obscured in all but the most official circumstances by the use of a "Leader of the Government in the House of Commons" style in its place.

Prime Minister Paul Martin's first House Leader, Jacques Saada was also the minister responsible for democratic reform; however, with the election of a minority government in the 2004 election, Martin appointed Tony Valeri to the position of leader of the government in the House of Commons with no additional responsibilities.

List of officeholders

Until 2005, the position of government house leader was not technically a cabinet-level post, but rather a parliamentary office, so to qualify for cabinet membership, an individual had to be named to cabinet in some other capacity. For a time, with the position having evolved into a full-time job, government house leaders have been named to cabinet as ministers of state with no portfolio specified. The Martin government created these positions so that the minister of state title is effectively invisible. An amendment to the Salaries Act made this unnecessary by listing the government house leader as a minister.^[4]

Key:

  Liberal Party of Canada

  Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

  Conservative Party of Canada

Portrait	Name Electoral district (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party		Prime minister (Ministry)
		Term start	Term end
	Ian Alistair Mackenzie MP for Vancouver Centre (1890–1949)	October 14, 1944	April 30, 1948		Liberal	William Lyon Mackenzie King (16th)
	Alphonse Fournier MP for Hull (1893–1961)	May 1, 1948	May 8, 1953		Liberal
						Louis St. Laurent (17th)
	Walter Edward Harris MP for Grey—Bruce (1904–1999)	May 9, 1953	April 12, 1957		Liberal
	Howard Charles Green MP for Vancouver Quadra (1895–1989)	October 14, 1957	July 18, 1959		Progressive Conservative	John Diefenbaker (18th)
	Gordon Churchill MP for Winnipeg South Centre (1898–1985)	January 14, 1960	February 5, 1963		Progressive Conservative
	Jack Pickersgill MP for Bonavista—Twillingate (1905–1997)	May 16, 1963	December 21, 1963		Liberal	Lester B. Pearson (19th)
	Guy Favreau MP for Papineau (1917–1967)	February 18, 1964	October 29, 1964		Liberal
	George McIlraith MP for Ottawa West (1908–1992)	October 30, 1964	May 3, 1967		Liberal
	Allan MacEachen MP for Inverness—Richmond (1921–2017)	May 4, 1967	April 23, 1968		Liberal
	Donald Stovel Macdonald MP for Rosedale (1932–2018)	September 12, 1968	September 23, 1970		Liberal	Pierre Trudeau (20th)
	Allan MacEachen MP for Cape Breton Highlands—Canso (1921–2017)	September 24, 1970	May 9, 1974		Liberal
	Mitchell Sharp MP for Eglinton (1911–2004)	August 8, 1974	September 13, 1976		Liberal
	Allan MacEachen MP for Cape Breton Highlands—Canso (1921–2017)	September 14, 1976	March 26, 1979		Liberal
	Walter Baker MP for Nepean—Carleton (1930–1983)	June 4, 1979	March 2, 1980		Progressive Conservative	Joe Clark (21st)
	Yvon Pinard MP for Drummond (born 1940)	March 3, 1980	June 29, 1984		Liberal	Pierre Trudeau (22nd)
	André Ouellet MP for Papineau (born 1939)	June 30, 1984	November 4, 1984		Liberal	John Turner (23rd)
	Ray Hnatyshyn MP for Saskatoon West (1934–2002)	November 5, 1984	June 29, 1986		Progressive Conservative	Brian Mulroney (24th)
	Don Mazankowski MP for Vegreville (1935–2020)	June 30, 1986	April 2, 1989		Progressive Conservative
	Doug Lewis MP for Simcoe North (born 1938)	April 3, 1989	February 22, 1990		Progressive Conservative
	Harvie Andre MP for Simcoe North (1940–2012)	February 23, 1990	June 24, 1993		Progressive Conservative
	Doug Lewis MP for Simcoe North (born 1938)	June 25, 1993	November 3, 1993		Progressive Conservative	Kim Campbell (25th)
	Herb Gray MP for Windsor West (1931–2014)	November 4, 1993	April 27, 1997		Liberal	Jean Chrétien (26th)
	Don Boudria MP for Glengarry–Prescott–Russell (born 1949)	June 11, 1997	January 14, 2002		Liberal
	Ralph Goodale MP for Wascana (born 1949)	January 15, 2002	May 25, 2002		Liberal
	Don Boudria MP for Glengarry–Prescott–Russell (born 1949)	May 26, 2002	December 11, 2003		Liberal
	Jacques Saada MP for Brossard—La Prairie (born 1947)	December 12, 2003	July 20, 2004		Liberal	Paul Martin (27th)
	Tony Valeri MP for Hamilton East—Stoney Creek (born 1957)	July 20, 2004	January 23, 2006		Liberal
	Rob Nicholson MP for Niagara Falls (born 1952)	February 6, 2006	January 4, 2007		Conservative	Stephen Harper (28th)
	Peter Van Loan MP for York—Simcoe (born 1963)	January 4, 2007	October 29, 2008		Conservative
	Jay Hill MP for Prince George—Peace River (born 1952)	October 30, 2008	August 6, 2010		Conservative
	John Baird MP for Ottawa West—Nepean (born 1969)	August 6, 2010	May 18, 2011		Conservative
	Peter Van Loan MP for York—Simcoe (born 1963)	May 18, 2011	November 4, 2015		Conservative
	Dominic LeBlanc MP for Beauséjour (born 1967)	November 4, 2015	August 19, 2016		Liberal	Justin Trudeau (29th)
	Bardish Chagger MP for Waterloo (born 1980)	August 19, 2016	November 20, 2019		Liberal
	Pablo Rodriguez MP for Honoré-Mercier (born 1967)	November 20, 2019	October 26, 2021		Liberal
	Mark Holland MP for Ajax (born 1974)	October 26, 2021	July 26, 2023		Liberal
	Karina Gould[5] MP for Burlington (born 1987) (on parental leave January 8—late July 2024)	July 26, 2023	January 8, 2024		Liberal
	Steven MacKinnon (interim) MP for Gatineau (born 1966)	January 8, 2024	July 19, 2024		Liberal
	Karina Gould[5] MP for Burlington (born 1987) (on parental leave January 8—late July 2024)	July 19, 2024	January 24, 2025
	Steven MacKinnon MP for Gatineau (born 1966)	January 24, 2025	Present		Liberal