At the centre of government : the prime minister and the limits on political power

Summary: "This exhaustively researched and deftly written book offers a first-hand view of the inner workings of the Canadian federal government, with a particular focus on the interplay between the Prime Minister's Office, the Privy Council Office, the federal cabinet, and the role backbench MPs, and parliamentary committees. Brodie argues that the various workings of the PMO, PCO, the cabinet, parliamentary committees, and the role of backbench MPs puts a lie to the proposition that the prime minister has evolved into the role of a dictator of sorts with unchecked control over the levers of political power. He offers a much-needed corrective to the dominant thinking that a Canadian prime minister holds power without limits, approaching unchecked domination over party, caucus, cabinet, Parliament, the public service, and the policy agenda. In Brodie's view, the prime minister is not a tyrant. There are effective checks on executive power. The golden age of Parliament and the backbencher is probably now. The author's contribution is that of a former insider, someone who worked at the centre and witnessed the circumstances, many of them institutional in character, that constrain the prime minister. The book calls for sober second thought about many of the proposals for reform."--