Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
Incumbent Diane Lebouthillier since July 26, 2023
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Style	The Honourable
Member of	House of Commons Privy Council Cabinet
Reports to	Parliament Prime Minister
Appointer	Monarch (represented by the governor general); on the advice of the prime minister
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Precursor	Minister of Fisheries and the Environment
Inaugural holder	Roméo LeBlanc
Formation	2 April 1979
Salary	CA$269,800 (2019)

The Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard (French: ministre des pêches, des océans et de la Garde côtière canadienne) is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet responsible for supervising the fishing industry, administrating all navigable waterways in the country, and overseeing the operations of the Canadian Coast Guard and the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation.

The minister is the head of the Government of Canada's marine department, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, often referred to by its older (and technical) name: the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

History

There was a minister of marine and fisheries from Confederation in 1867 onwards. The role was split in two in 1930, with duties related to fisheries going to the new minister of fisheries, and all other responsibilities going to the new minister of marine, which was merged into the role of minister of transport a few years later.

The minister of fisheries lasted from 1930 to 1969, at which point the post was merged with forestry to create the post of minister of fisheries and forestry. This lasted only two years, until 1971, when the minister of fisheries became a secondary role held concurrently by the minister of the environment. In 1974 the fisheries portfolio was assigned to Roméo LeBlanc as the minister of state (fisheries) assisting the minister of the environment. When LeBlanc was appointed as the minister of the environment in 1976, the post was restyled minister of fisheries and environment.

The current post of minister of fisheries and oceans was established in 1979, and it has continued under various names since then. Hunter Tootoo was the first Indigenous person to hold this portfolio, from November 4, 2015 until May 31, 2016.

Ministers of Marine and Fisheries (1867–1930)

Key:

     Liberal Party of Canada      Historical conservative parties: Liberal-Conservative, Conservative (historical), Unionist, National Liberal and Conservative

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Political party	Ministry
1		Peter Mitchell	July 1, 1867	November 5, 1873	Liberal-Conservative	1 (Macdonald)
2		Sir Albert James Smith	November 7, 1873	October 8, 1878	Liberal	2 (Mackenzie)
3		James Colledge Pope	October 19, 1878	July 9, 1882	Conservative (historical)	3 (Macdonald)
4		Archibald McLelan	July 10, 1882	December 9, 1885	Conservative (historical)
5		George Foster	December 10, 1885	May 28, 1888	Conservative (historical)
6		Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper	June 1, 1888	June 6, 1891	Conservative (historical)
			June 16, 1891	November 24, 1892		4 (Abbott)
			December 5, 1892	December 12, 1894		5 (Thompson)
7		John Costigan	December 21, 1894	April 27, 1896	Liberal-Conservative	6 (Bowell)
			May 1, 1896	July 8, 1896		7 (Tupper)
8		Sir Louis Henry Davies	July 13, 1896	September 24, 1901	Liberal	8 (Laurier)
9		James Sutherland	January 15, 1902	November 10, 1902	Liberal
10		Raymond Préfontaine	November 11, 1902	January 5, 1905	Liberal
–		Sir Wilfrid Laurier (acting)	January 6, 1906	February 5, 1906	Liberal
11		Louis-Philippe Brodeur	February 6, 1906	August 10, 1911	Liberal
12		Rodolphe Lemieux	August 11, 1911	October 6, 1911	Liberal
13		John Douglas Hazen	October 10, 1911	October 12, 1917	Conservative (historical)	9 (Borden)
14		Charles Ballantyne	October 13, 1917	July 10, 1920	Unionist	10 (Borden)
			July 10, 1920	December 29, 1921		11 (Meighen)
15		Ernest Lapointe	December 29, 1921	January 29, 1924	Liberal	12 (King)
16		Arthur Cardin (1st time)	January 30, 1924	June 28, 1926	Liberal
–		William Anderson Black (acting)	June 29, 1926	July 12, 1926	Conservative (historical)	13 (Meighen)
17		Esioff-Léon Patenaude	July 13, 1926	September 25, 1926	Conservative (historical)
(16)		Arthur Cardin (2nd time)	September 25, 1926	June 13, 1930	Liberal	14 (King)
Marine portfolio moved to Minister of Marine, Fisheries portfolio moved to Minister of Fisheries.

Ministers of Fisheries (1930–1969)

Key:

     Liberal Party of Canada      Historical conservative parties: Conservative (historical), Progressive Conservative

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Political party	Ministry
1		Cyrus Macmillan	June 17, 1930	August 7, 1930	Liberal	14 (King)
2		Edgar Nelson Rhodes	August 7, 1930	February 2, 1932	Conservative (historical)	15 (Bennett)
–		Alfred Duranleau (acting)	February 2, 1932	November 16, 1934	Conservative (historical)
–		Grote Stirling (acting)	November 17, 1934	August 13, 1935	Conservative (historical)
3		William Gordon Ernst	August 14, 1935	October 23, 1935	Conservative (historical)
4		Joseph-Enoil Michaud	October 23, 1935	October 5, 1942	Liberal	16 (King)
5		Ernest Bertrand	October 7, 1942	August 28, 1945	Liberal
6		Hedley Francis Gregory Bridges	August 30, 1945	August 10, 1947	Liberal
–		Ernest Bertrand (acting)	August 14, 1947	September 1, 1947	Liberal
7		Milton Fowler Gregg	September 2, 1947	January 18, 1948	Liberal
8		James Angus MacKinnon	January 19, 1948	June 10, 1948	Liberal
9		Robert Mayhew	June 11, 1948	November 15, 1948	Liberal
			November 15, 1948	October 14, 1952		17 (St. Laurent)
10		James Sinclair	October 15, 1952	June 21, 1957	Liberal
11		Angus MacLean	June 21, 1957	April 22, 1963	Progressive Conservative	18 (Diefenbaker)
12		Hédard Robichaud	April 22, 1963	April 20, 1968	Liberal	19 (Pearson)
			April 20, 1968	July 5, 1968		20 (P. E. Trudeau)
13		Jack Davis	July 6, 1968	March 31, 1969	Liberal
Fisheries portfolio moved to Minister of Fisheries and Forestry.

Ministers of Fisheries and Forestry (1969–1971)

Key:

     Liberal Party of Canada

Ministers responsible for Fisheries through the Department of Environment (1971–1979)

Key:

     Liberal Party of Canada

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Political party	Ministry
Minister of Environment & Minister of Fisheries (held concurrently)
		Jack Davis	June 11, 1971	August 7, 1974	Liberal	20 (P. E. Trudeau)
Minister of State (Fisheries)
		Roméo LeBlanc	August 8, 1974	September 13, 1976	Liberal	20 (P. E. Trudeau)
Minister of Fisheries and the Environment
		Roméo LeBlanc	September 14, 1976	April 1, 1979	Liberal	20 (P. E. Trudeau)
Fisheries portfolio moved to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

Ministers of Fisheries and Oceans (1979–present)

Key:

     Liberal Party of Canada      Progressive Conservative      Conservative Party of Canada

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Political party	Ministry
Ministers of Fisheries and Oceans
1		Roméo LeBlanc (1st time)	April 2, 1979	June 3, 1979	Liberal	20 (P. E. Trudeau)
2		James McGrath	June 4, 1979	March 2, 1980	Progressive Conservative	21 (Clark)
(1)		Roméo LeBlanc (2nd time)	March 3, 1980	September 29, 1982	Liberal	22 (P. E. Trudeau)
3		Pierre de Bané	September 30, 1982	June 29, 1984	Liberal
4		Herb Breau	June 30, 1984	September 16, 1984	Liberal	23rd (Turner)
5		John Fraser	September 17, 1984	September 23, 1985	Progressive Conservative	24 (Mulroney)
–		Erik Nielsen (acting)	September 23, 1985	November 19, 1985	Progressive Conservative
6		Tom Siddon	November 20, 1985	February 22, 1990	Progressive Conservative
7		Bernard Valcourt	February 23, 1990	April 20, 1991	Progressive Conservative
8		John Crosbie	April 21, 1991	June 24, 1993	Progressive Conservative
9		Ross Reid	June 25, 1993	November 3, 1993	Progressive Conservative	25 (Campbell)
10		Brian Tobin	November 4, 1993	January 8, 1996	Liberal	26 (Chrétien)
–		David Dingwall (acting)	January 9, 1996	January 24, 1996	Liberal
11		Fred Mifflin	January 25, 1996	June 10, 1997	Liberal
12		David Anderson	June 11, 1997	August 2, 1999	Liberal
13		Herb Dhaliwal	August 3, 1999	January 14, 2002	Liberal
14		Robert Thibault	January 15, 2002	December 11, 2003	Liberal
15		Geoff Regan	December 12, 2003	February 5, 2006	Liberal	27 (Martin)
16		Loyola Hearn	February 6, 2006	October 30, 2008	Conservative	28 (Harper)
17		Gail Shea	October 30, 2008	May 18, 2011	Conservative
18		Keith Ashfield	May 18, 2011	July 15, 2013	Conservative
(17)		Gail Shea (2nd time)	July 15, 2013	November 4, 2015	Conservative
Ministers of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
19		Hunter Tootoo	November 4, 2015	May 31, 2016	Liberal	29 (J. Trudeau)
20		Dominic LeBlanc	May 31, 2016	July 18, 2018	Liberal
21		Jonathan Wilkinson	July 18, 2018	November 20, 2019	Liberal
22		Bernadette Jordan	November 20, 2019	October 26, 2021	Liberal
23		Joyce Murray	October 26, 2021	July 26, 2023	Liberal
23		Diane Lebouthillier	July 26, 2023	Incumbent	Liberal