Canada. Dept. of the Secretary of State for the Provinces : In the reorganization of the Cabinet which confederation made necessary two new secretarial offices were created - Secretary of State for the Provinces, and Secretary of State. Staff for the office of the Secretary of State for the Provinces was drawn from the Canada West Branch of the Provincial Secretary's Office, while the Canada East Branch provided the personnel for the Secretary of State's Department. The Secretary of State has continued as a member of the Cabinet to the present day but the office of Secretary of State for the Provinces disappeared in a Cabinet reorganization six years after it was created.
At the time of its inception the office of Secretary of State for the Provinces was assigned only the duty of conducting official correspondence between the federal Government and the provinces. For the duration of its existence the Department of Secretary of State for the Provinces rested not upon a statutory basis but only on the Order in Council of July 1, 1867, which appointed Adams George Archibald to the office (P.C. 2, 1867). An attempt was made in 1870 to provide statutory authorization for the Department but although the bill was passed in the Senate, it was withdrawn after one reading in the House of Commons and was never re-introduced. E.A. Meredith, who had been in charge of the Canada West Branch of the Provincial Secretary's Office, was appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Provinces. In 1869 Indian Affairs and the Geological Survey were transferred to the Department on Sir John A Macdonald's recommendation that all matters relating to the North West should be under the direction of one minister (P.C. 928, 1869). In spite of Macdonald's recommendation, Dominion lands remained under the Secretary of State even after the acquisition of the Hudson's Bay Company territory. However, in 1873 a reorganization of functions was carried out. The office of Secretary of State for the Provinces was abolished and in its place a new Department of the Interior was established (36 Vic., Cap. 4). Dominion lands and all aspects of North West administration were placed under the new department. The personnel of the office of Secretary of State for the Provinces formed the nucleus of the staff for the Interior Department and E.A. Meredith was appointed Deputy Minister. The Secretary of State assumed responsibility for conducting official correspondence with the provinces and the relevant records which had been accumulated were transferred to his custody.
