Премьер-министр провинции Онтарио: полномочия и функции.

First minister of the government of Ontario

The premier of Ontario is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly; as such, the premier typically sits as a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) and leads the largest party or a coalition of parties. As first minister, the premier selects ministers to form the Executive Council (provincial cabinet), and serves as its chair. Constitutionally, the Crown exercises executive power on the advice of the Executive Council, which is collectively responsible to the legislature. Doug Ford is the 26th and current premier of Ontario. He took office on June 29, 2018, following the 2018 Ontario election where his Progressive Conservative (PC) party won a majority of seats in the Ontario Legislature.

The role of premier is not defined by statute, except by reference to higher entitlement to pay under the Executive Council Act. The premier does not have to be serving in Provincial Parliament to be selected as premier. In practice, this is highly unlikely to occur in a majority government situation, while it can occur in a minority government situation if the government had been struck down by its previous partners.

The government exists independently of the legislature. While the legislature may be dissolved for an election, the executive council continues serving under the caretaker convention, where government ceases to make major policy decisions except in response to disaster. The premier has been a continuous role since 1914, when there was a one week vacancy in the office between James Whitney and William Howard Hearst. In modern times, the premier serves until their successor is sworn in. There are no term limits on the role of premier, the premier may continue serving as long as they retain the confidence of the legislature.

Deputy premiers may be selected by the premier and often concurrently hold other senior roles within the cabinet. However, the role of deputy premier holds no specific formal power, and does not automatically receive any powers in the case of absence or death of a premier.

The premier plays multiple functions in the Ontario political system, mirroring most conventions of the federal level of Canadian government. The premier has a near absolute power to determine the structure of the cabinet, to choose ministers, and to dismiss them at will, the Executive Council Act does not carry any restrictions on who can serve as a minister. The premier is constrained by certain democratic norms and constitutional conventions. For example, it expected due to individual ministerial responsibility that each minister shall be an MPP, or shall swiftly seek a seat in the legislature by participating in a by election. It is expected that ministers are residents of the province. It is also expected that there be some level of diversity within the cabinet, on a geographic basis as much as the number of MPPs in the governing party permits. A premier will generally select ministers based on many factors including diversity, rewarding past or expected loyalty, satisfying factions within their party, creating a narrative or symbolism about choices, and primarily by who they expect can competently make decisions in a politically successful manner. The premier also has large amounts of discretion over the creation, composition and dissolution of cabinet committees, except the Treasury Board, which has its existence and size established by statute.

A premier is at the centre of political decision making in Ontario. Cabinet collective responsibility (otherwise known as cabinet solidarity) is a concept that outlines that if a minister has serious issues with the direction of a government or premier, they must either accept the decision without public criticism of the premier or resign. This custom gives cabinet ministers little ability to exercise power or make decisions contrary to the will of the premier if the premier has made their position known within cabinet. While smaller decisions may often be made by individual ministers, a 1999 paper suggests anything representing policy reversal, large new policy, inter departmental effects, politically sensitive or involving substantial financial expenditure will be brought to cabinet. The premier exercises power of political decision making through use of the Cabinet Office and the Office of the Premier. The Cabinet Office provides policy analysis and oversight over the Ontario Public Service, and the office Office of the Premier is responsible for political analysis, coordination with ministers' offices, and communications strategy. Large political decisions are usually made with proposals and discussions at a cabinet committee or cabinet level, where frank discussions on inter departmental effects or political considerations can take in a structured way in a highly confidential environment at the centre of government. This typically follows heavy preparatory work on the part of minister's offices and staff, as well as civil service policy analysts. This is the ultimate representation of the challenge function, where political leaders are meant to provide direction, input, and political scrutiny on professional civil service advice.

The premier is ultimately the face of their party in the province, and continues to play a role in partisan politics. The premier is also bound by individual ministerial responsibility, and is expected to present themselves to question period on an at least occasional basis. They may try to shape media framing of government priorities, do damage control on government controversies, or draw contrasts with leaders of opposition parties. The communications role has more recently expanded to encompass social media, with Premier Doug Ford launching a communications strategy of news style direct to voter communications via social media. The premier sets the tone for communications through all of government, with a leader typically attempting to cultivate a "brand", to varying levels of success. The premier also has a major role to play in declaring certain votes in provincial parliament as "votes of confidence", votes that will lead to the premier asking the lieutenant governor for an election if the vote fails, forcing opposition leaders to consider whether they are ready for an election. Budgets, and other funding bills are always confidence votes as are the address in reply to speech from the throne that happen at the beginning of each parliamentary session. On supply days, where the opposition controls the schedule, the opposition can introduce a confidence motion. However, importantly, the premier can cause any vote to be a confidence vote by declaring it so.

A final function of the premier is to give advice to the lieutenant governor. While advice often refers to regulation, appointments and spending, which the lieutenant governor would never refuse, there are cases in which the lieutenant governor retains reserve powers and has some discretion in matters. The premier can advise that the lieutenant governor prorogue provincial parliament, which can be a controversial way to avoid a confidence vote or parliamentary investigation in a minority parliament, and try to reset their image after a lower profile break. In extraordinary circumstances, the lieutenant governor may refuse this advice, but in general, there is great latitude given to prime ministers in requesting prorogation. The premier can advise the lieutenant governor to call an early election, an election before the required date, a move that can help a popular governing party win an election while their popularity is high, or attempt to win a majority parliament when they currently only hold a minority. This decision can be controversial in a minority government, and if a short time has passed since a recent election, and the lieutenant governor believes another leader can command confidence in parliament, they may refuse the advice of the premier, dismiss the premier, and invite the other leader to become the next premier.

The premier plays some role in Canadian federalism, with the power to comment about federal politics or respond to federal politics, as then Premier Kathleen Wynne did in proposing an Ontario Retirement Pension Plan, which pushed the federal government into an expansion of the Canada Pension Plan. These actions can also be ineffective. Premier Doug Ford refused to participate in the carbon price regime of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but refusal to participate did not lead to any changes in the program. In cases of changing the Canadian constitution, the premier's influence over the provincial legislature's priorities and schedule would play a large role in passing any constitutional amendment. Canada's constitution has an amending formula where most changes require seven provinces representing 50 per cent of Canada's population, and most other amendments require approval by all provinces. As a result of its high population, Ontario has an effective veto on any constitutional change unless Quebec supports it, which is highly unlikely due to Quebec's historical refusal to legitimize a constitutional system which does not give them a full veto over constitutional change. As first minister, the premier also acts as Ontario's representative to the First Ministers' conferences and Council of the Federation, meeting with other Canadian first ministers to discuss issues where inter provincial co operation may be required or beneficial. The premier through cabinet or through consultation with the attorney general is finally likely to approve any intergovernmental lawsuits of the Government of Ontario against the federal government. For example, the Ontario government recently was involved in a court case regarding the constitutionality of the carbon pricing regime. The role of federalism has also evolved, with areas of provincial responsibility now having federal dollars backing them, leading to a more integrated role on whether premiers will accept the conditions attached to those dollars. Such an issue was pertinent in 2021, where Ontario is the sole province not to sign on to a vastly expanded federal financial commitment under its childcare accords.

The Office of the Premier is the partisan centre of government, providing political analysis, communications strategy, issues management, media monitoring and other functions for the benefit of the Premier. The office is headed by the Chief of Staff to the Premier, and will typically also have senior advisors, stakeholder relations specialists, issues management staff, policy advisors, logistical and operations staff for travel, media specialists, legislative affairs staff, and public appointments staff. The size of the office is typically something the premier has wide latitude to determine and place in the provincial budget, as staff are not part of the public service, and are instead hired as partisans, and do work that is partisan in nature. Total spending in the portfolio is approximately $3 million per year and typically encompasses about 75 staff. The office is also the cost centre for a parliamentary assistant to the premier, if the premier chooses to have one. The hiring and firing decisions within this office are generally at the discretion of the Premier, unlike the civil service.

The salary of the premier is determined by their pay as an MPP, if they hold a seat in the legislature, which is governed by the Legislative Assembly Act. In addition, the Executive Council Act establishes a premium of 79.3% above the MPP salary, 37% for their role as Premier and the remaining 42.3% if they retain the portfolio of Intergovernmental Affairs. This leads to a total of approximately $209,000. The premier, as a member of the Executive Council, is entitled to use the title "The Honourable" while in office, but is not sworn into the King's Privy Council for Canada, and therefore unlike federal cabinet ministers, provincial premiers are not entitled to use that honorific after they cease to serve on the Executive Council.

Most premiers cease to be premier while still in their working life. As a result, premiers have many options for what to do after. In some circumstances, they may stay on as an MPP if they won their seat but no longer had the confidence of the legislative assembly. Kathleen Wynne served one full parliamentary term after her premiership. Many others turn to consulting work, work on corporate or NGO boards, or in academia. Another option is to pursue politics in another instance. Bob Rae went on to serve as a federal Liberal MP, and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. Doug Ford, while a current premier, is a former Toronto mayoral candidate, and some, including a CBC journalist have speculated it may be a position of interest if provincial politics are unfavourable to him, speculating to an extent they thought was worthy asking in an interview.