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Research Note: A Profile of Ministerial Policy Staff in the Government of Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2015

R. Paul Wilson
R. Paul Wilson*
Affiliation:
Carleton University
*
Clayton H. Riddell Graduate Program in Political Management, 2430-R River Building, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Although ministerial political advisors are prominent and influential actors within the core executive in Canada and elsewhere, information is scarce with respect to their personal and professional backgrounds and career trajectory. This article uses recent survey data and publicly available biographical information to analyse the demographic composition of senior ministerial policy advisors within the Government of Canada. It finds that, while ministerial policy staffers are young and politically committed, they are not so young nor so professionally inexperienced as sometimes thought. Nor are they always personally and tightly bound to their current ministers but often work for different ministers in different departments. This suggests that advisors are agents of the whole government as much as agents of their individual ministers and raises questions about the degree to which they are responsive to the Prime Minister's Office, thereby increasing centralization.

Résumé

Alors que les conseillers politiques des ministres exercent une influence à l'extérieur du “core executive” au Canada et ailleurs, l'information ayant trait à leur formation personnelle et professionnelle ainsi que leurs aspirations de carrière reste nébuleuse, voire inconnue. L'article suivant analyse la composition démographique des conseillers haut placés en politique oeuvrant au sein du Gouvernement du Canada en se basant sur des données d'enquêtes récentes et des informations biographiques disponibles au public. L'article soutient qu'alors que les conseillers en politique sont généralement perçus comme jeunes et engagés politiquement, en fait ils ne sont pas si jeunes et manquent d'expérience. De plus, ils ne sont pas toujours personnellement et étroitement liés à leurs ministres actuels mais travaillent souvent pour différents ministres dans divers ministères. Ceci suggère que les conseillers sont des agents de l'ensemble du gouvernement autant que des agents de leurs ministres individuels. Ceci soulève des questions quant à leur degré de réceptivité envers le Cabinet du Premier ministre et quant à l'augmentation de la centralisation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 455 - 471
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2015 

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