Premier of Ontario
The premier of Ontario is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly; as such, the premier typically sits as a member of Provincial Parliament and leads the largest party or a coalition of parties. As first minister, the premier selects ministers to form the Executive Council, and serves as its chair. Constitutionally, the Crown exercises executive power on the advice of the Executive Council, which is collectively responsible to the legislature.
Doug Ford is the 26th and current premier of Ontario. He took office on June 29, 2018, following the 2018 Ontario election where his Progressive Conservative party won a majority of seats in the Ontario Legislature.
History
The position of Ontario premier evolved from the role of Joint Premier of Canada for Canada West, with John Sandfield Macdonald, the second-last joint premier of Canada becoming the first prime minister of the province of Ontario, a position that later was renamed to "Premier".Section 63 of the British North America Act, 1867 established the Executive Council for Ontario and specifically created five executive offices: the Attorney General, the Treasurer, the Secretary and Registrar, the Commissioner of Crown Lands, and the Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works. However, it made no specific mention of, or provision for, the Premier or Premier's office. Until 1905, it was customary for the leader of the governing party to occupy the office of the Attorney General. That was the case for 32 of the province first 38 years.
The first person to lead the province's administration was John Sandfield Macdonald. A reformer prior to confederation, he replaced John A Macdonald as co-premier of the Province of Canada in 1862, leading a Liberal administration for two years. He was elected to the first Canadian parliament as the Liberal MP for Cornwall. However, he quickly became an ally to Prime Minister John A Macdonald, who manoeuvred him into the Premier's chair by providing him the support of the Conservative members. In the first five years of confederation, politicians were allowed to hold "dual mandates", serving simultaneously in the House of Commons and in a provincial legislature. This created a unique situation where Sandfield Macdonald was the head of a coalition government consisted of mostly conservatives in Toronto, while sitting as an opposition Liberal MP in Ottawa with a number of the Liberals in opposition to his government. Following the conservatives' defeat in the provincial election held in March 1871, he initially ignored a non-confidence vote and refused to resign until December.
Having finally ousted Macdonald, Liberal Edward Blake, the second premier, remained in office for less than a year. With dual mandates outlawed, Blake opted to lead the Liberals in Ottawa and handed the reign in Toronto to Oliver Mowat, who would become the longest serving Premier and Attorney General of Ontario, serving almost 24 years between 1872 and 1896.
Conservative James Whitney ended more than 30 years of Liberals rules and became premier in 1905. Through legislation he amended the Executive Council Act to add a separate office of the President of the Executive Council. A separate expense line was also added to provide budget for a "Premier and President of Executive Council Department" that year. The departments was further renamed in 1907 to "Office of the Prime Minister and President of the Council".. The Department was responsible for providing administrative support to the Prime Minister of Ontario, and was one of the smallest agencies of the Ontario Government, consisting of just two Chief Clerks, one Assistant Clerk and a Stenographer.
The term "Prime Minister of Ontario" remained in colloquial use until the government of Bill Davis formal adopted the usage of the term Premier in 1971, and legally changed the title in 1983. However, in French the prime minister–premier distinction does not exist, the premier is still referred to as premier ministre or première ministre. This directly translates to 'first minister' or 'prime minister' in English, with both the federal and provincial first ministers being styled the same way.
Ontario political trends have been noted as running opposite to the trends of the federal government, with the premier and the prime minister usually coming from different types of parties. For example, in the 21st century, the federal and provincial liberal parties were only jointly in power from 2003 to 2005 and 2015 to 2018, or approximately 5 years out of 21 years cumulatively, and there was no overlap between federal and provincial conservative parties. This trend has held strongly since approximately 1950, despite Ontario being the largest province in Canada.
Most premiers have taken office between the ages of 40 and 60. With the exception of Thomas Laird Kennedy, who was 70 when he served less than a year as an interim party leader, the last premier to become premier outside of the 40-60 age range was Mitchell Hepburn, who was 38 when he became premier in 1934.
Geographically, the premier has been an MPP from Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area, or Ottawa since 2003. Generally however, premiers have come from communities throughout Ontario, including Eastern Ontario, the Lake Huron and Lake Erie coasts, the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area, and from communities further north, such as North Bay and Sault Ste. Marie.
Role and relationship with the legislature
Origin of the role
The role of premier is not defined by statute, except by reference to higher entitlement to pay under the Executive Council Act. Similarly to the federal system, the existence of a first minister is instead considered a constitutional convention. The role is a pivotal one under the Canadian system of responsible government, where government is expected to be led by someone who has the confidence of the legislature.Relationship with the legislature
The premier and government are accountable to the legislature. The premier and executive council can exercise authority given to it by the laws created by the legislature. The flow of authority from the legislature to the executive creates the expectation that the government's actions must obey the law. The premier is expected to answer for their actions or inactions to the legislature through the responsible government concept of fused branches of government, including through question period. As a member of cabinet, the premier is subject to the constitutional norm of individual ministerial responsibility, and is therefore expected to either be a Member of Provincial Parliament, or to quickly seek election to a seat in the legislature so that they may answer questions from the legislature in debate and question period.Determination of premier
The premier is appointed by the lieutenant governor, who represents the head of state. The premier then presides over the Executive Council, or cabinet. The Executive Council Act stipulates that the leader of the government party is known as the "Premier and President of the Council". Due to Ontario being a unicameral Westminster-style parliamentary government, the premier is typically the leader of the party which has the most support in the Legislative Assembly at that time.Members are first elected to the legislature during general elections. General elections must be conducted every four years from the date of the last election. An election may also happen if the governing party loses the confidence of the legislature, by the defeat of a supply bill or tabling of a confidence motion. Premiers hold office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the elected Legislative Assembly. They typically sit as a member of Provincial Parliament and lead the largest party or a coalition in the assembly. Once sworn in, the premier holds office until their resignation or is removed by the lieutenant governor after either a motion of no confidence or defeat in a general election. The premier does not have to be serving in Provincial Parliament to be selected as premier. In practice, this is highly unlikely to occur in a majority-government situation, while it can occur in a minority-government situation if the government had been struck down by its previous partners.
Duration of the role
The government exists independently of the legislature. While the legislature may be dissolved for an election, the executive council continues serving under the caretaker convention, where government ceases to make major policy decisions except in response to disaster. The premier has been a continuous role since 1914, when there was a one-week vacancy in the office between James Whitney and William Howard Hearst. In modern times, the premier serves until their successor is sworn in. There are no term limits on the role of premier, the premier may continue serving as long as they retain the confidence of the legislature.Deputy Premier
Deputy premiers may be selected by the premier and often concurrently hold other senior roles within the cabinet. However, the role of deputy premier holds no specific formal power, and does not automatically receive any powers in the case of absence or death of a premier.Functions
Selection of the cabinet
The premier plays multiple functions in the Ontario political system, mirroring most conventions of the federal level of Canadian government. The premier has a near absolute power to determine the structure of the cabinet, to choose ministers, and to dismiss them at will, the Executive Council Act does not carry any restrictions on who can serve as a minister. The premier is constrained by certain democratic norms and constitutional conventions. For example, it expected due to individual ministerial responsibility that each minister shall be an MPP, or shall swiftly seek a seat in the legislature by participating in a by-election. It is expected that ministers are residents of the province. It is also expected that there be some level of diversity within the cabinet, on a geographic basis as much as the number of MPPs in the governing party permits. A premier will generally select ministers based on many factors including diversity, rewarding past or expected loyalty, satisfying factions within their party, creating a narrative or symbolism about choices, and primarily by who they expect can competently make decisions in a politically successful manner.The premier also has large amounts of discretion over the creation, composition and dissolution of cabinet committees, except the Treasury Board, which has its existence and size established by statute.