The Provincial Secretary and Registrar of Ontario was a senior position in the provincial cabinet of Ontario from before Canadian Confederation until the 1960s.
The provincial secretary and registrar was originally the second highest position in the provincial cabinet, equivalent to the position of deputy premier. The provincial secretary was the equivalent of the former Canadian Cabinet position of Secretary of State for Canada. Like its federal counterpart it included an eclectic variety of responsibilities that were not assigned to other ministers, most of which would eventually evolve into portfolios of their own. The provincial secretary was also responsible for official communications between the provincial government and the Colonial Office in London as well as with other provincial and colonial governments (and after 1867 the federal government). As well, the position also included various duties related to ceremonial occasions, visits by dignitaries, protocol, relations between the government and the office of lieutenant governor and commemorative events particularly in relation to the monarchy.
Generally, the provincial secretary acted as a province's registrar-general and was responsible for formal documents and records such as licences, birth and death certificates, land registries and surveys, business registrations and writs. As well, the position was generally responsible for the administration of the civil service and of elections. Provincial secretaries were usually the most senior member of the provincial cabinet outside of the premier, and the office holder was often designated as acting premier when the premier was out of province, ill or otherwise unavailable. The last individual to hold the position of provincial secretary and registrar (renamed Provincial Secretary and Minister of Citizenship in 1961) was John Yaremko who left office in 1972.
In 1972 the Progressive Conservative government of Bill Davis adopted the provincial secretary title for a non-departmental cabinet portfolio in which the occupant either having responsibility spreading over several ministries, assisting a senior minister in an area or as a secondary portfolio for a senior minister giving him a broader responsibility or mandate area. The three positions created were provincial secretary for social development, provincial secretary for justice and provincial secretary for resource development. These positions were unrelated to the original provincial secretary position except for the common name. The positions were retained by Davis' successor, Frank Miller, in 1985 but were abolished when the Progressive Conservatives lost power to David Peterson's Liberals in 1985.
Pre-Confederation provincial secretary Prior to Confederation and the creation of the office of premier, the provincial secretary was the most important and powerful figure in provincial politics. The title holder was appointed by the lieutenant governor and many sat as members of the Legislative Council.
Upper Canada William Jarvis (1791–1817) Family Compact (Conservative) Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto (1817–1829) Family Compact (Conservative) Robert Baldwin Sullivan (1838–1840)
United Provinces of Canada Sir Dominick Daly (1844–1848) – former provincial secretary of Lower Canada (1827–1840), Canada East (1843–1844) Pierre Joseph Olivier Chauveau (1853–1854) Conservative Sir George-Étienne Cartier (1855–1857) Conservative
Provincial secretary and registrar (after Confederation) Portrait NameTerm of office Tenure Political party(Ministry) Note1Matthew Crooks CameronLiberalConservative(Macdonald) 2Stephen Richards LiberalConservative(Macdonald)3Peter Gow Liberal(Blake) 4Timothy B. Pardee Liberal(Mowat) 5Christopher F. Fraser Liberal(Mowat) 6Samuel Wood Liberal(Mowat) 7Arthur Sturgis Hardy Liberal(Mowat) 8John M. Gibson Liberal(Mowat) 9William Balfour Liberal(Hardy)10Elihu Davis Liberal(Hardy) 11James Robert Stratton Liberal(Ross)12George Perry Graham13 William HannaConservative(Whitney) Conservative(Hearst)14 William McPherson15 (1)Harry NixonUnited Farmers(Drury)16Lincoln GoldieConservative(Ferguson)17 Leopold MacaulayConservative(Henry)18 George Challies19 (2)Harry Nixon Liberal(Hepburn)20Norman Hipel Liberal(Conant)21 (3)Harry Nixon Liberal(Nixon) While Premier22 (1) George DunbarPC(Drew)23Roland Michener24Dana PorterPC(Kennedy)25 George WelshPC(Frost)26 William Nickle27 (2) George Dunbar28 Mac Phillips29 John Yaremko Provincial Secretary and Minister of Citizenship 1 (1) John Yaremko PC(Robarts)The registrar-general of Ontario eventually transferred to the Ministry of Government Services in 1972. 2 Bob Welch3 (2) John Yaremko(second instance) PC(Davis)After 1972 the responsibility of Citizenship affairs was transferred to the Ministry of Citizenship and Culture when it was formed in 1982.
Premier Davis's Provincial Secretaries In the 1971 provincial election, Premier Bill Davis secured the first electoral mandate under his leadership. Following the election, the Davis ministry formally kickstarted the most sweeping administrative reorganization in Ontario history for the stated purpose of modernizing policy-making and technocratic efficiency in early 1972. The reorganization was prompted by the recommendation of the Committee on Government Productivity (COGP) established in January 1970 that consisted of five senior civil servants of deputy minister rank and four business leaders who were president of major corporations based in Ontario. The committee conducted extensive engagement and studies and tabled ten reports between 1970 and 1973 proposing detailed and sweeping reorganization of the government and modernization of its operation. The first set of interim recommendations on department reorganization were contained in COGP's third report tabled in December 1971.
A significant recommendation was to group all the portfolio department by policy areas each with a senior policy minister as overseer. Davis quickly acted on the recommendations and in January 1972, he named the provincial secretaries for three distinct policy fields. They along with the Treasurer were to function as super ministers overseeing multiple portfolio ministers. The initial allocation of portfolio were as follows:
Justice policy field attorney general solicitor general correctional Services consumer and commercial relations Treasury and government services treasury economics and intergovernmental affairs (absorbing municipal affairs) revenue government services
Social development policy field education colleges and universities community and social services health Resources development policy field agriculture and food natural resources (absorbing northern affairs, mines) environment (absorbing energy) industry and tourism (later industry and trade) transportation and communications labour
The department to be establish for the management board was to be directly accountable to cabinet. As the reorganization progressed various modification were made, and certain planned changes were not proceeded with while other were reversed or partially reversed.
Each provincial secretary chaired a cabinet committee established for the field, consisted of the portfolio ministers within their policy field. They were responsible for co-ordinating and developing policies for the various ministries which formed that policy field. The provincial secretaries were given full portfolio minister status (some held portfolios within their policy field concurrently, while some have no concurrent portfolio responsibilities), with secretariats established for each field in order to provide analytical and research support to the provincial secretaries and the Cabinet committees.
Davis put his four former leadership rivals in charge of the four policy area initially, reflecting the seniority he intended for these provincial secretaries. Though they were powerful positions in principle, they carried no direct administrative responsibilities and led to a reduced profile for the ministers as portfolio ministers continue to take lead on the rollout of key initiatives and for the defences of relevant policies whether in questions periods or to the press. Allan Lawrence, Davis' primary leadership rival, was in the job for less than a year before leaving for federal politics. The frequent changes of officer holders and the lower statues of some of the later secretaries further diminished the statues of the posts. In the later years of the Davis ministry, sometimes junior ministers, or senior ministers being demoted were placed in these roles.
Premier Frank Miller continued with the practice of appointing provincial secretaries, but when David Peterson ascended to the premiership in 1985, the secretariats were terminated.
Provincial secretaries for justice NameTerm of office Tenure Political party(Ministry) Note1Allan Lawrence PC(Davis) Concurrently Minister of Justice and Attorney General2 (1)George Kerr3 (1)Bob Welch Concurrently Attorney-General; concurrently Minister of Culture and Recreation (from January 14, 1975)4John Clement Concurrently attorney-general and solicitor general5John MacBeth Concurrently Solicitor General; also interim Minister of Correctional Services (June – September, 1977)6 (2)George Kerr Concurrently Solicitor-General7 (2)Bob Welch While Deputy Premier8Gordon Walker Concurrently Minister of Correctional Services (to April 10, 1981); concurrently Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations (from April 10, 1981)9Norman Sterling10 (3)Bob Welch While Deputy Premier and Minister Responsible for Women's Issues11Reuben Baetz PC(Miller)12Alan Pope Concurrently Attorney General
Provincial Secretaries for Resource Development NameTerm of office Tenure Political party(Ministry) Note1Bert Lawrence PC(Davis) Concurrently Minister of Health until February 2, 19722Allan Grossman3Donald Irvine 4René Brunelle5Russ Ramsay6 Lorne Henderson 7Norm Sterling8Ernie Eves PC(Miller) Concurrently Minister of Skills Development (after March 22, 1985)9Dennis Timbrell Concurrently Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Provincial Secretaries for Social Development NameTerm of office Tenure Political party(Ministry) Note1Bob Welch PC(Davis) Concurrently Minister of Education (to February 2, 1972); concurrently Minister of Housing (after November 7, 1973)2Margaret Birch3Bruce McCaffrey4Gordon Dean PC(Miller) 5Larry Grossman Concurrently (Minister of Education, and Minister of Colleges and Universities)
References
See also
Ministry of Government Services (Ontario) - current ministry where the registrar of Ontario resides Provincial Secretary of Quebec