Case Study: The Harper Cabinet, May 2011, in order of precedence
| Person | Position |
| Stephen Harper | Prime Minister |
| Robert Nicholson | Minister of Justice and Attorney General |
| Marjory LeBreton | Leader of the Government in the Senate |
| Peter MacKay | Minister of National Defence |
| Vic Toews | Minister of Public Safety |
| Rona Ambrose | Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women |
| Diane Finley | Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development |
| Beverley Oda | Minister of International Cooperation |
| John Baird | Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Tony Clement | President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario |
| Jim Flaherty | Minister of Finance |
| Peter Van Loan | Leader of the Government in the House of Commons |
| Jason Kenney | Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism |
| Gerry Ritz | Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board |
| Christian Paradis | Minister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture) |
| James Moore | Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages |
| Denis Lebel | Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec |
| Leona Aglukkaq | Minister of Health and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency |
| Keith Ashfield | Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway |
| Peter Kent | Minister of the Environment |
| Lisa Raitt | Minister of Labour |
| Gail Shea | Minister of National Revenue |
| John Duncan | Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development |
| Steven Blaney | Minister of Veterans Affairs |
| Edward Fast | Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway |
| Joe Oliver | Minister of Natural Resources |
| Peter Penashue | Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada |
| Julian Fantino | Associate Minister of National Defence |
| Bernard Valcourt | Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency), (La Francophonie) |
| Gordon O’Connor | Minister of State and Chief Government Whip |
| Maxime Bernier | Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism) |
| Diane Ablonczey | Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs) |
| Lynne Yelich | Minister of State (Western Economic Diversification) |
| Steven Fletcher | Minister of State (Transport) |
| Gary Goodyear | Minister of State (Science and Technology) (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario) |
| Ted Menzies | Minister of State (Finance) |
| Tim Uppal | Minister of State (Democratic Reform) |
| Alice Wong | Minister of State (Seniors) |
| Bal Gosal | Minister of State (Sport) |
On May 18, 2011, Governor General David Johnston swore in the cabinet that assisted Prime Minister Stephen Harper as he led a majority government in the 41st parliament.
Of this 39-member cabinet, 25 members were full ministers with departmental portfolios, and 11 were ministers of state with responsibilities to assist other ministers in given policy fields. There was one associate minister (Julian Fantino, National Defence), tasked with assisting the minister of national defence with military procurement initiatives. There was the leader of the government in the Senate (Marjory LeBreton). And at the head of the table, of course, was the prime minister.
The composition of this cabinet made clear that the prime minister was very conscious of most of the ideas regarding cabinet selection outlined in Thinking Government.
Regional Representation
This cabinet boasted members from almost every region and province, though none from Northwest Territories or Yukon.
| Ontario | 15 |
| Alberta | 6 |
| Quebec | 4 |
| British Columbia | 4 |
| Saskatchewan | 2 |
| Manitoba | 2 |
| New Brunswick | 2 |
| Nova Scotia | 1 |
| Prince Edward Island | 1 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 1 |
| Nunavut | 1 |
Note the dominance of Ontario: the 15 ministers from Ontario represented 38 per cent of the total cabinet. As it was the single most populous province in the country, this was not surprising, but it was nonetheless politically interesting to find a trio of senior Ontario cabinet ministers who were members of the Mike Harris provincial Conservative government in Ontario from 1995 to 2002:
- Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty
- Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird
- President of the Treasury Board Tony Clement.
These men, now occupying some of the most important portfolios in the government, were all fiscal, rather than social, conservatives.
Also note that Quebec, with only six seats in the Conservative caucus, had four members of cabinet. Harper clearly felt a need to reach out to the province, trying to show that the voice of Quebec was being heard in cabinet deliberations.
Female Representation
Ten women had cabinet posts, 25.6 per cent of the total.
Although this proportion was the same as in Harper’s previous government, it did represent a significant enhancement in comparison to previous decades. But no woman held one of the most senior cabinet portfolios: Finance, Foreign Affairs, National Defence, Public Safety, Treasury Board, Industry, or Immigration.
Other Considerations
Francophones wound up with six places, 15 per cent of the total. Visible minorities took another six, one person with a disability gained a spot, 2.5 per cent of the total, and two Indigenous Canadians were given positions, or 5.1 per cent.
And the group noticeably absent from this cabinet? Social conservatives.
