Regional Ministers: Power and Influence in the Canadian Cabinet

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

“In Prince Edward Island it is unlikely that the Canadian forces base
at Summerside would have suffered the indignity of sudden closure—the
economic equivalent in Ontario of shutting down the General Motors plant
in Oshawa—had the province enjoyed reasonably strong representation in
Cabinet.” Based on more than six years’ research by Bakvis, a
professor of political science and public administration at Dalhousie
University, this book concludes that earlier views about the
disappearance of the regional minister were premature and need to be
reconsidered in the light of developments since 1980.

By regional ministers, Bakvis means members of the Canadian cabinet who
“powerfully assert the needs of their regions at the highest political
level in the land.” In this book, in which the phenomenon is analyzed
from Confederation to the present, the notion of “region”
varies—from the western provinces in Jimmy Gardiner’s day to
downtown Winnipeg in Lloyd Axworthy’s time.

The book’s main emphasis is on the last 10 years, because this is
where Bakvis must make his case about the continuance of the
regional-minister phenomenon. In this section, his research into primary
and secondary sources has been substantially enriched by dozens of
interviews with government officials, politicians, and assistants to
politicians at all levels of government.

In modern times, he sees the regional-minister phenomenon as a function
of several factors, including changes in government organization during
the last Trudeau regime that allowed ministers to act in a regional
capacity. He also acknowledges that some individuals more than others
are inclined by personality and temperament to exercise the power
available to them and that some portfolios more than others lend
themselves to the regional role.

His analysis, covering two chapters, of Lloyd Axworthy’s tenure as a
federal minister should put to rest any doubts that regional power
barons ceased to exist when C.D. Howe was defeated in 1957; and his two
chapters on the Mulroney years reinforce the thesis that regional
influences continue to be important.

Regional Ministers is a well-written, closely argued tour de force that
sparkles with fresh insights on each page. In a short review, it is
impossible to do justice to this splendid book, and I can only encourage
others to read it carefully. Certainly if they had, Summerside residents
might have voted differently in the last election.