The Executive

Executive Government in Canada - Cabinet Shuffles

In the parliamentary system, a cabinet shuffle is an informal term for an event that occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in his or her cabinet.

Commonly, a cabinet shuffle refers to certain ministers being shifted from one portfolio (ministry) to another. Cabinet shuffles happen as periodically moving ministers is often necessary to replace ministers who have resigned, been dismissed, or are simply not performing well. Forming cabinets is also one of the most important ways for a head of government to reward or punish supporters, a practice that leads to shuffles whenever a new faction within a party takes over.

It is common after elections, even if the party in power is retained, for a prime minister to name a completely different cabinet, as the prime minister's reading of public opinion as evidenced by the election may require some change in policy, in addition to any changes resulting in the retirement and (occasionally) outright electoral defeat of some former ministers. Furthermore, when a new prime minister enters office from the same party as the previous one, he or she will typically change the cabinet to remove loyalists of the previous leader or simply to reflect his or her policies.

If a minister is moved from a high profile or "important" portfolio - such as Finance or National Defence - to a lesser portfolio, such as National Revenue, this is normally considered a demotion - usually an indication that the minister was not performing well, was perceived as a vulnerability, or has somehow invoked the displeasure of the prime minister. Similarly, if a minister is moved from a junior position to a relatively high profile position, or from the back bench to cabinet - even in a junior portfolio, that is seen as a promotion. It isn't always indicative of the minister's perceived abilities, however. The prime minister may want that person in that particular portfolio because of their regional background or some other factor other than skill or experience. A recent example of this was the August 2007 cabinet shuffle of the Harper cabinet, which saw Quebec MP Maxime Bernier moved from Industry to Foreign Affairs - for which he had no background or experience. It was thought that Prime Minister Harper wanted a francophone Quebecer at Foreign Affairs to better sell Canada's mission in Afghanistan in the province of Quebec, where support for the Afghanistan war was the lowest in the country. Bernier was forced to resign in May 2008 over a security breach involving classified documents, but he had also committed several gaffes prior to that, including publicly calling for the dismissal of an Afghan provincial governor.

Cabinet shuffles can be categorized as minor or major. A minor shuffle would typically involve the moving of only a handful of ministers from one portfolio to another, and often no new faces brought in. A major shuffle would see a significant number of ministers moved to other portfolios, some dropped completely or significantly demoted, and new faces brought in to cabinet.

Cabinet shuffles are far less common in systems where members of the Cabinet are not drawn from the legislative branch. For instance, in the United States, it would be very unusual for a president to reassign all the cabinet secretaries to new positions.