Office of the Prime Minister (Canada) December 21, 2015, the new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was still in the process of hiring staff. However, he announced some key positions as well as his office's directorates: The Office of the Prime Minister was a fairly weak and secondary group before Pierre Trudeau became prime minister in 1968, after whose appointment much of what had previously been the responsibility of the Privy Council Office was shifted to the PMO. After that point, the PMO became more central to the government, and many of Trudeau's economic and constitutional initiatives were launched with the aid and advice of its staff.
Acting prime minister Ministers in their own right. In Canada, the Deputy Prime Minister—a position that is not always in use—becomes acting head of government in the event that the Prime Minister is absent from Canada or incapacitated. Prior to the creation of this position, there was one notable and brief appointment made by a Canadian Prime Minister. In February 1958, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker appointed Ellen Fairclough as acting Prime Minister for two days while he was absent from Canada. The designated Acting Prime Minister takes the role of Prime Minister as Acting Prime Minister, for up to one hundred consecutive days,