Great discussion. One aspect that caught my eye was your classifying ministerial responsibility as a convention — it seems to me that has drifted out of that category, with ministers more consistently failing to take responsibility for major slips under their jurisdiction. It is within my living memory of ministers resigning after some sort of scandal. There were several under a Mulroney; the last I recollect off-hand was Bev Oda for her high-end orange juice, but that seemed at the time more an excuse to remove an under-performing minister. Not to be partisan, but certainly none in this scandal-plagued present ministry.
So what is it when a convention devolves? “Practice” doesn’t seem to fit either.
Ministerial responsibility is a good example. I'd argue that the convention is evolving such that ministers are no longer responsible for everything that happens in their department. Given the size of government, that's no longer feasible. So, ministers are now only resigning for personal failings.
Great discussion. One aspect that caught my eye was your classifying ministerial responsibility as a convention — it seems to me that has drifted out of that category, with ministers more consistently failing to take responsibility for major slips under their jurisdiction. It is within my living memory of ministers resigning after some sort of scandal. There were several under a Mulroney; the last I recollect off-hand was Bev Oda for her high-end orange juice, but that seemed at the time more an excuse to remove an under-performing minister. Not to be partisan, but certainly none in this scandal-plagued present ministry.
So what is it when a convention devolves? “Practice” doesn’t seem to fit either.
Ministerial responsibility is a good example. I'd argue that the convention is evolving such that ministers are no longer responsible for everything that happens in their department. Given the size of government, that's no longer feasible. So, ministers are now only resigning for personal failings.