Member of CabinetPrivy Council Formation 12 July 1996 | ||
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Appointer Governor General of Canada Term length At Her Majesty's pleasure |
The Minister of Canadian Heritage (French: Ministre du Patrimoine canadien) is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who heads the Department of Canadian Heritage, the federal government department responsible for culture, media, sports, and the arts in Canada.
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History
The position was created in 1996 to combine the posts of Minister of Multiculturalism and Citizenship and Minister of Communications. The "Status of Women" was merged from the Minister responsible for the Status of Women in 2006. In 2008, the Status of Women portfolio was transferred to a Minister of State.
On August 16, 2013, the multiculturalism portfolio was assigned to the Hon. Jason Kenney who was appointed Minister for Multiculturalism in addition to his other portfolios.
Those portfolios and responsibilities such as for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, were returned to the Heritage Minister with the swearing in of the 29th Canadian Ministry in November 2015. The present Minister of Canadian Heritage is the Hon. Mélanie Joly. Joly also became responsible for the National Capital Commission, which was formerly under the senior Ottawa-area cabinet minister under the Harper government, and the Canadian Secretary to the Queen, which was previously under the Privy Council Office.
List of Ministers
Key:
Responsibilities
Prior to 2003, their responsibilities included National Parks and historic sites.
Currently, the Minister of Canadian Heritage is responsible for the Department of Canadian Heritage as well as:
The Minister's general powers, duties, and functions are set out by section 4 of the Department of Canadian Heritage Act, which provides as follows:
4. (1) The powers, duties and functions of the Minister extend to and include all matters over which Parliament has jurisdiction, not by law assigned to any other department, board or agency of the Government of Canada, relating to Canadian identity and values, cultural development and heritage.In addition, sections 42 to 44 of the Official Languages Act confer certain other responsibilities on the Minister of Canadian Heritage (see Minister responsible for Official Languages (Canada)).