Deputy Prime Minister of Canada of service of Allan J. MacEachen. Before then, Trudeau had given the title of "Senior Minister" to a member of his cabinet. The last to occupy that position was Paul Hellyer. Joe Clark's government did not have a deputy prime minister. Similarly, Prime Minister Stephen Harper did not designate a deputy prime minister, meaning Canada's most recent deputy prime minister was Anne McLellan, who in 2006, was also the first deputy prime minister to lose her seat in the House of Commons. Harper gave special status in the line of authority to members of his cabinet: under an order-in-council issued
Deputy Prime Minister of Canada then the balance of the Cabinet, in order of precedence, have been authorized to act for the prime minister. Media analysts generally credited the top person on these lists as being the "de facto" deputy prime minister, although the title was never conferred. These "order of precedence" lists have no status as a formal line of succession, however, and would carry no special weight in determining who would take over as the new prime minister if an incumbent died in office or was forced to suddenly resign in advance of a leadership convention. Cannon seconded the pro forma bill to