DCHP-2

government leader Government Leader, Government leader DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — now near-obsolete, Politics

  an elected leader of a territorial government in Canada.

  Type: 3. Semantic Change — The term government leader describes the elected chair of an executive council in one of Canada's three territories: the Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. The main authority of a government leader is to "determine the size and the appointments to the executive council" (see the first 2013 quotation). The earliest found Canadian attestation of government leader (see the 1979 quotation) coincides with the introduction of party politics and responsible government in the Yukon (see Canadian Heritage reference).
  The provincial equivalent of government leader is a premier (see the 2011 quotation, see premier). Accordingly, the title of government leader appears to have been officially changed to premier (see the 2013 and second 2014 quotations); the timing of this title change within each territory appears to have varied, occurring in the Northwest Territories in 1994 (see Legislative Assembly NWT reference) and the Yukon in 1996 (see Election Almanac reference). This official change is reflected in everyday language use (see Charts 1 to 3); a comparison of competing variants in the Canadian Newsstand Complete database shows a notable decline in the use of government leader and increase in the use of premier throughout three time periods between 1985 to 2014 (see Charts 1-3). Specifically, the Yukon's use of government leader dropped from 80 percent to 3 percent between the first and third time period (see Chart 1). Similarly, the Northwest Territories' use of government leader declined from 98 percent to 1 per cent between the first and third time period (see Chart 2). The term is marked as a semantic change, as government leader also refers to a position in the Senate, known formally as the Leader of the Government.
  See also COD-2, s.v. "government leader", which is described as being used in Canada.

  See also: premier  

  • 1979  Yukon Government Leader Chris Pearson has promised to oppose vigorously the application and he says he is confident the trains will keep chugging. 
  • 1987  Lt.-Col. George Landry of Northern Regional Headquarters in Yellowknife said the department is not prepared to halt the flights, as demanded by native and territorial Government leaders. 
  • 1999  Paul Okalik, government leader of Nunavut, accused rich provinces like Alberta and Ontario of being selfish at the expense of have-not regions like his territory. 
  • 2008  The Yukon Party government, under the late John Ostashek, employed the same practice, as did the NDP government under former government leader Piers McDonald, as well as the short-lived Liberal government of former premier Pat Duncan, the premier pointed out. 
  • 2011  Canadians elect new provincial and territorial governments at least every five years. The age and citizenship rules for voting vary according to the province or territory. The elected leader of a territorial government is called the government leader, while the elected leader of a provincial government is called the premier. 
  • 2013  John Ostashek decided not to use the title of premier that had been adopted by Tony Penikett, reverting to the traditional title of government leader. The right-leaning independents helped keep Ostashek in power. After being elected, Ostashek finalized four previously negotiated native land claim agreements, and began welfare reform and reducing public services. 
  • 2013  In 1979, an Executive Committee was established to assist the Territorial Commissioner in the executive function, and the elected members of the Executive Committee or Council have progressively assumed greater responsibilities. With the formal introduction of party politics in 1978, the elected leader of the majority party in the legislature became known as the Government Leader. When responsible government was established in 1979, the Commissioner no longer participated in the Executive Council. The Government Leader has the authority to determine the size and the appointments to the Executive Council, paralleling the function of the premiers in the provinces. 
  • 2014  Territory loses first government leader Flags are at half-mast today to honour Chris Pearson, the Yukon's first government leader, who died last Friday in Virginia at the age of 82. [...] "Mr. Pearson played an important role in bringing responsible government to Yukon and was instrumental in ensuring that the territory was a party to land claim negotiations with First Nations and the federal government," said Pasloski. 
  • 2014  In 1985, 24 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) representing 24 constituencies are voted in. From those elected, eight members are chosen to become the executive council, also referred to as the cabinet. One of them is selected to become the government leader, later called the premier.