Government Phone Books

If you work in government, with government, or are trying to track down information on government programs and services in Canada, some of the most useful reference tools are government phone books. You can find out a lot more than just government employees and their phone numbers. You can often get a good handle on the organizational structure of different government departments, find out who is working on what and where they fit in the hierarchy.

We all have access to much of that information, and to those officials, now that most government phone directories are online. The federal government and all the provincial and territory governments in Canada, with the exception of Manitoba, Quebec and Nunavut, now have their government employee directories online. Manitoba and Nunavut have online directories with frequently called numbers.

The style, organization and scope of these telephone directories varies a great deal. Most make it very easy to find individual employees, their phone and fax numbers, and their office addresses. Gradually email addresses are being added. Many supply job titles and some form of link back to the relevant department or agency. PEI is a good example. Some, like Ontario, offer a method for browsing through the government organization structure. Others, like Saskatchewan, provide an list of frequently called numbers. These lists are especially useful if you're trying to find the department responsible for a particular service.

The best of the lot, however, is the Government of Newfoundland Telephone Directory. You can search using a number of different fields, browse through the government organization structure, get a quick list of frequently called numbers, find a list of Newfoundland government fax numbers and tie in to other related directories. It's updated monthly too.

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responsible government

Definition: In Canada, the principle of responsible government means the prime minister and the cabinet are directly accountable to the elected House of Commons and, ultimately, to the people of Canada.

The prime minister and cabinet ministers have seats in the Canadian House of Commons, with occasional exceptions. The government must retain the confidence of the majority of the members of the House of Commons or either resign or ask the governor general to dissolve Parliament and call an election.

In other words, the legislative branch of the Canadian government has control over the executive branch.

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Firsts for Women in Government

 Agnes Macphail, First Canadian Woman Member of Parliament

Kelsey Studio / Library and Archives Canada / C-006908

It's hard to believe that it wasn't until 1918 that Canadian women first had the same voting rights as men in federal elections. A year later women gained the right to run for election to the House of Commons and the election of 1921 was the first federal election that included female candidates. Here are more historical firsts for Canadian women in government.

Agnes Macphail was the first Canadian woman to be a member of parliament. She was a strong activist for penal reform and founded the Elizabeth Fry Society of Canada, a group working with and for women in the justice system. Cairine Wilson was the first woman appointed to the Canadian Senate, just months after the Persons Case gave women the right to sit in the Senate. It wasn't until 1953 that another woman was appointed to the Senate in Canada As Minister of Citizenship and Immigration in the Diefenbaker government, Ellen Fairclough was responsible for introducing measures which went a long way towards the elimination of racial discrimination in Canadian immigration policy. Bertha Wilson, the first woman justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, supported the broad application of the Canadian Charter of Rights. She is probably best known as the author of the Supreme Court decision overturning Criminal Code of Canada restrictions on abortion in 1988. Jeanne Sauvé was not only Canada's first Canadian woman Governor General, she was also one of the three first women members of parliament to be elected from Quebec, the first woman federal cabinet minister from Quebec, and the first woman Speaker of the House of Commons. Audrey McLaughlin went to the Yukon looking for adventure. She became a member of parliament for the Yukon, and was then elected leader of the federal New Democratic Party. Most of Rita Johnston's political career was as a municipal councillor in Surrey, British Columbia, but her foray into provincial politics landed her several cabinet minister posts and a short stint as Premier of British Columbia. A neurology researcher, Roberta Bondar was one of the six original Canadian astronauts selected in 1984 to train at NASA. Eight years later she became the first Canadian woman and the second Canadian astronaut to go into space. Although popular at the start of her brief tenure as Prime Minister, Kim Campbell led the Progressive Conservative Party to the greatest defeat in Canadian political history. Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, the first woman to head the Supreme Court of Canada, has tried to improve public understanding of the role of the Supreme Court and the judiciary in Canada.

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Canadian Federal Government

Eugene Forsey's How Canadians Govern Themselves is an important introduction to how government works in Canada. It covers the origins of the Canadian parliamentary system and its day-to-day operations, and explains the major differences between the federal and provincial governments in Canada. It also highlights some of the differences between the Canadian and American systems of government.

For information on public policy and how it is made, try the Policy Research Initiative (PRI). The PRI was started by the Clerk of the Privy Council to strengthen public policy development and information sharing.

The Privy Council Office, the public service organization that provides support to the Prime Minister and Cabinet, is a useful source of online publications and information resources on a wide range of current Canadian public policy.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat is another good resource for information on the inside operations of the Canadian federal government. Its Web site posts many of the policies and regulations covering human resources, financial management and information technology of the federal government. As an example, this is where you'll find information on the Government On-Line Project, the federal government's effort to put its most frequently used services on the Internet.

The Speech From the Throne opening each session of Parliament outlines the legislative and policy priorities for the government for the coming session of Parliament.

The Prime Minister's Office announces major public policy initiatives introduced by the federal government.

To get an overview of Canadian elections, start with Elections in Canada. You'll find additional reference information in Federal Elections, including the results of the last federal election, information on who can vote, the National Register of Electors, federal ridings and Members of Parliament.

Continue: Federal Government Services

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