How a caretaker government functions in the middle of a trade war

If there’s one thing the former head of Canada’s public service wants Canadians to know right now, it’s that their country still has a government.

“We always have a government. Whether during prorogation, during dissolution, there’s always a functional government with its powers and its duties and obligations,” Michael Wernick said.

Wernick is the former clerk of the Privy Council — a position that includes heading up the public service, acting as the prime minister’s deputy as well as serving as secretary to the federal cabinet.

When Parliament is dissolved, the government itself is not shut down. Wernick says it can still respond to the economic chaos being unleashed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

“What changes during the election period is this convention of [the government] using its powers with restraint. But there is a government there, it has a broad tool kit and there are people going to work every day supporting the federal government both federally and provincially,” he said. 

The convention Wernick mentioned is a reference to the “caretaker convention period,” that begins when Parliament has been dissolved and only ends when a new government is sworn in or an incumbent government is re-elected. 

In the Westminster parliamentary system used in Canada, the legitimacy of an elected government hinges on its ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons. During an election period, the House is shut and so the prime minister cannot seek approval from the elected chamber. 

Because of that, the prime minister and cabinet are directed by the convention to act with restraint, which means they shouldn’t introduce big, new things or make changes that would be onerous for the next government to roll back. 

Governing with ‘restraint’

This does not mean that the government is prevented from making decisions. Prime Minister Mark Carney still has the responsibility of ensuring the routine operation of the government continues and must also be able to respond to emergencies such as natural disasters, wars or economic crises. 

Wernick says that deciding what must be done — and what should not be done — comes down to the judgment of the prime minister guided by tradition, such as ensuring government actions demonstrate respect for the democratic will of Canadians.

“There’s no rule book to go to that would tell you exactly where that threshold is,” Wernick said. 

When it comes to responding to tariffs being imposed on Canada by the Trump administration, the prime minister and his cabinet have the power and authority they need to respond with retaliatory tariffs or help for workers.

“The only thing really not available to the government would be to go to Parliament and pass a new law,” Wernick told CBC’s Power & Politics host David Cochrane last week. 

That means ministers can carry on with their official duties but they should “not act independently on an initiative that requires cabinet or Treasury Board approval,” according to the caretaker guidelines. 

Government departments are also not supposed to launch new regulatory initiatives, and when possible should defer the implementation of initiatives during an election period because ministers may have limited capacity to respond, should issues arise.

There are also some guidelines for how government advertising and communicating takes place. The central principle is that all communication should be non-partisan, and be limited to messages about public health, safety or urgent business. 

Public opinion research is supposed to be shelved during the election period and no government contracts should be issued for speechwriting either.

While cabinet ministers retain their powers and responsibilities, parliamentary secretaries’ appointments end as soon as Parliament is dissolved. 

“In the grand scheme of things, five weeks is not a long period to be managing this,” Wernick said.