Clerk of the Privy Council (Canada) - Definition and Overview

The Clerk of the Privy Council is the senior civil servant in the government and the Secretary to the Canadian Cabinet. The Clerk of the Privy Council Clerk operates as the Prime Minister of Canada's Deputy Minister and provides impartial advice to the Prime Minister and is in charge of the Privy Council Office. As Secretary to the Cabinet, the Clerk of the Privy Council provides impartial advice to the Ministry and oversees the advice and policy support given to Cabinet and its committees. As Head of the Public Service, the Clerk is responsible for other deputy ministers and the provision of non-partisan, expert advice to the government as a whole.

Clerks of the Privy Council

• William Henry Lee (1867-1872)
• William Alfred Hinsworth (1872-1880)
• Joseph Olivier Côté (1880-1882)
• John Joseph McGee (1882-1907)
• Rodolphe Boudreau (1907-1923)
• Ernest Joseph Lemaire (1923-1940)
• Arnold Danford Patrick Heeney (1940-1949)
• Norman Alexander Robertson (1949-1952)
• John Whitney Pickersgill (1952-1953)
• Robert Broughton Bryce (1954-1963)
• Robert Gordon Robertson (1963-1975)
• Peter Michael Pitfield (1975-1979, 1980-1982)
• Marcel Massé (1979-1980)
• Gordon Francis Osbaldeston (1982-1985)
• Paul M. Tellier (1985-1992)
• Glen Scott Shortliffe (1992-1994)
• Jocelyne Bourgon (1994-1999)
• Mel Cappe (1999-2002)
• Alexander Himelfarb (2002-present)