Minister of Justice
Attorney General of Canada
Ministre de la Justice
procureur général du Canada
Incumbent
Arif Virani
since July 26, 2023
Department of Justice
StyleThe Honourable
AbbreviationMoJAG[1]
Member of
Reports to
AppointerMonarch (represented by the governor general);[4]
on the advice of the prime minister[5]
Term lengthAt His Majesty's pleasure
Inaugural holderSir John A. Macdonald
FormationJuly 1, 1867
SalaryCA$269,800 (2019)[6]
Websitecanada.justice.gc.ca

The minister of justice and attorney general of Canada (French: ministre de la justice et procureur général du Canada) is a dual-role portfolio in the Canadian Cabinet.[7]

The officeholder in the role of Minister of Justice (French: Ministre de la Justice) serves as the minister of the Crown responsible for the Department of Justice and the justice portfolio, and in the role of Attorney General (French: Procureur général),[8] litigates on behalf of the Crown and serves as the chief legal advisor to the Government of Canada. (Though most prosecution functions of the attorney general have been assigned to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. The attorney general is supported in this role by the director of public prosecutions.[8])

Attorney General of Canada

The role was created in 1867 to replace the attorney general of Canada West and attorney general of Canada East.

As the top prosecuting officer in Canada, 'attorney general' is a separate title held by the minister of justice—a member of the Cabinet. The minister of justice is concerned with questions of policy and their relationship to the justice system. In their role as attorney general, they are the chief law officer of the Crown. The roles have been connected since confederation. As a result of controversy, following the SNC-Lavalin affair, Anne McLellan was appointed to review the roles and prepare a report on whether they should be separated. She recommended the positions remain combined.[9][10]

This cabinet position is usually reserved for someone holding a legal qualification. There have been exceptions: Joe Clark only studied the first year of law at Dalhousie University before transferring to University of British Columbia Faculty of Law and dropping out to embark on political life.[11]

This cabinet portfolio has been held by many individuals who went on to become prime minister including John Sparrow David Thompson, R. B. Bennett, Louis St Laurent, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, John Turner, Kim Campbell and Jean Chrétien (Clark became MoJAG after his time as prime minister). This is the only Canadian Ministry (other than that of the prime minister) which has not been reorganized since its creation in 1867.

A separate cabinet position, the minister of public safety (formerly known as the "solicitor general") administers the law enforcement agencies (police, prisons, and security) of the federal government.

Ministers of justice and attorneys general

Key:

No. Portrait Name Term of office Political party Ministry
1 Sir John A. Macdonald July 1, 1867November 5, 1873 Liberal-Conservative 1 (Macdonald)
2 Antoine-Aimé Dorion November 7, 1873May 31, 1874 Liberal 2 (Mackenzie)
– Sir Albert James Smith
(Acting)		 June 1, 1874July 7, 1874 Liberal
3 Télesphore Fournier July 8, 1874May 18, 1875 Liberal
4 Edward Blake May 19, 1875June 7, 1877 Liberal
5 Rodolphe Laflamme June 8, 1877October 8, 1878 Liberal
6 James McDonald October 17, 1878May 18, 1881 Conservative (historical) 3 (Macdonald)
7 Alexander Campbell May 20, 1881September 24, 1885 Conservative (historical)
8 Sir John Thompson September 26, 1885June 6, 1891 Conservative (historical)
June 16, 1891November 24, 1892 4 (Abbott)
December 5, 1892December 12, 1894 5 (Thompson)
9 Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper December 21, 1894January 5, 1896 Conservative (historical) 6 (Bowell)
– Thomas Mayne Daly
(Acting)		 January 6, 1896January 14, 1896 Liberal-Conservative
10 Arthur Rupert Dickey January 15, 1896April 27, 1896 Conservative (historical)
May 1, 1896July 8, 1896 7 (Tupper)
11 Sir Oliver Mowat July 13, 1896November 17, 1897 Liberal 8 (Laurier)
12 David Mills November 18, 1897February 7, 1902 Liberal
13 Charles Fitzpatrick February 11, 1902June 3, 1906 Liberal
14 Sir Allen Aylesworth June 4, 1906October 6, 1911 Liberal
15 Charles Doherty October 10, 1911July 9, 1920 Conservative (historical) 9•10 (Borden)
July 10, 1920September 20, 1921 11 (Meighen)
16 R. B. Bennett October 4, 1921December 28, 1921 Conservative (historical)
17 Lomer Gouin December 29, 1921January 3, 1924 Liberal 12 (King)
18 Ernest Lapointe
(1st time)		 January 4, 1924
(Acting until Jan.30)		June 28, 1926 Liberal
– Hugh Guthrie
(Acting)		 June 29, 1926July 12, 1926 Conservative (historical) 13 (Meighen)
19 Esioff-Léon Patenaude July 13, 1926September 24, 1926 Conservative (historical)
(18) Ernest Lapointe
(2nd time)		 September 25, 1926August 6, 1930 Liberal 14 (King)
20 Hugh Guthrie August 7, 1930August 11, 1935 Conservative (historical) 15 (Bennett)
21 George Reginald Geary August 14, 1935October 22, 1935 Conservative (historical)
(18) Ernest Lapointe
(3rd time)		 October 23, 1935November 26, 1941 Liberal 16 (King)
– Joseph-Enoil Michaud
(Acting)		 November 27, 1941December 9, 1941 Liberal
22 Louis St. Laurent
(1st time)		 December 10, 1941December 9, 1946 Liberal
23 James Lorimer Ilsley December 10, 1946June 30, 1948 Liberal
(22) Louis St. Laurent
(2nd time)		 July 1, 1948
(Acting until Sep.10)		November 14, 1948 Liberal
24 Stuart Garson November 15, 1948June 20, 1957 Liberal 17 (St. Laurent)
25 Davie Fulton June 21, 1957August 8, 1962 Progressive Conservative 18 (Diefenbaker)
26 Donald Fleming August 9, 1962April 21, 1963 Progressive Conservative
27 Lionel Chevrier April 22, 1963February 2, 1964 Liberal 19 (Pearson)
28 Guy Favreau February 3, 1964June 29, 1965 Liberal
– George McIlraith
(Acting)		 June 30, 1965July 6, 1965 Liberal
29 Lucien Cardin July 7, 1965April 3, 1967 Liberal
30 Pierre Trudeau April 4, 1967April 19, 1968 Liberal
April 20, 1968July 5, 1968 20 (P. E. Trudeau)
31 John Turner July 6, 1968January 27, 1972 Liberal
32 Otto Lang
(1st time)		 January 28, 1972September 25, 1975 Liberal
33 Ron Basford September 26, 1975August 2, 1978 Liberal
(32) Otto Lang
(2nd time)		 August 3, 1978
(Acting until Aug.9)		November 23, 1978 Liberal
34 Marc Lalonde November 24, 1978June 3, 1979 Liberal
35 Jacques Flynn June 4, 1979March 2, 1980 Progressive Conservative 21 (Clark)
36 Jean Chrétien March 3, 1980September 9, 1982 Liberal 22 (P. E. Trudeau)
37 Mark MacGuigan September 10, 1982June 29, 1984 Liberal
38 Donald Johnston June 30, 1984September 16, 1984 Liberal 23 (Turner)
39 John Crosbie September 17, 1984June 29, 1986 Progressive Conservative 24 (Mulroney)
40 Ray Hnatyshyn June 30, 1986December 7, 1988 Progressive Conservative
– Joe Clark
(Acting)		 December 8, 1988January 29, 1989 Progressive Conservative
41 Doug Lewis January 30, 1989February 22, 1990 Progressive Conservative
42 Kim Campbell February 23, 1990January 3, 1993 Progressive Conservative
43 Pierre Blais January 4, 1993June 24, 1993 Progressive Conservative
June 25, 1993November 3, 1993 25 (Campbell)
44 Allan Rock November 4, 1993June 10, 1997 Liberal 26 (Chrétien)
45 Anne McLellan June 11, 1997January 14, 2002 Liberal
46 Martin Cauchon January 15, 2002December 11, 2003 Liberal
47 Irwin Cotler December 12, 2003February 5, 2006 Liberal 27 (Martin)
48 Vic Toews February 6, 2006January 3, 2007 Conservative 28 (Harper)
49 Rob Nicholson January 4, 2007July 13, 2013 Conservative
50 Peter MacKay July 13, 2013November 4, 2015 Conservative
51 Jody Wilson-Raybould November 4, 2015January 14, 2019 Liberal 29 (J. Trudeau)
52 David Lametti January 14, 2019July 26, 2023 Liberal
53 Arif Virani July 26, 2023Incumbent Liberal

See also

Historical roles

References

  1. ↑ Canada, Department of Justice (2017-03-20). "Patriation, the Recognition of Rights and Reconciliation". gcnws. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  2. ↑ "The Canadian Parliamentary system - Our Procedure - House of Commons". www.ourcommons.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  3. ↑ "Review of the Responsibilities and Accountabilities of Ministers and Senior Officials" (PDF).
  4. ↑ "Constitutional Duties". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  5. ↑ "House of Commons Procedure and Practice - 1. Parliamentary Institutions - Canadian Parliamentary Institutions". www.ourcommons.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  6. ↑ "Indemnities, Salaries and Allowances". Library of Parliament. April 11, 2018. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  7. ↑ International, Radio Canada (2019-03-04). "Political scandal Canada: dual office of Justice Minister and Attorney-General, a concern?". RCI | English. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  8. 1 2 Government of Canada, Department of Justice (2016-04-15). "Roles and Responsibilities of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada - Department of Justice Canada Minister's Transition Book". www.justice.gc.ca. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  9. ↑ McLellan, Anne (August 14, 2019). "Review of the Roles of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada". Prime Minister of Canada. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  10. ↑ Gollom, Mark (August 14, 2019). "McLellan advises against splitting roles of attorney general, justice minister". CBC News. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  11. ↑ "ARCHIVED - Clark-Biography-First Among Equals". www.collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2021-03-11.

Further reading

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