• Français
  • Home
  • News
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
Dictionary of Canadian Biography
  •  Browse
  •  Advanced Search
  •  Reader Mode
  •  Printer-friendly
mobile
    • Outline
    facebook sharing button Share
    twitter sharing button Tweet
    • New Biographies
    • Minor Corrections
    • Biography of the Day
      d. 17 May 1815 at Quebec
      PANET, JEAN-ANTOINE
      d. 17 May 1815 at Quebec
      See previous
    • Themes, Essays, and Guides
      • The War of 1812
      • The First World War
      • Confederation
      • Women in the DCB/DBC
      • See complete list
    facebook sharing button Share
    twitter sharing button Tweet

“Double Shuffle” manoeuvre (1858)

In August 1858 the George-Étienne Cartier and John A. Macdonald ministry came back into power after a defeat that had resulted in the famous two-day George Brown–Antoine-Aimé Dorion administration. The Cartier–Macdonald ministry resorted to a device called the “double shuffle.” In a strict interpretation of the law that dispensed with re-election for a minister called to another ministerial post within one month after his resignation, the ministers first accepted portfolios different from those held in the former government and then the next day resumed their former offices, thus being freed from the obligation to be re-elected. The manoeuvre was legal under the existing law, but it looked like sharp practice and was widely condemned.

Related Biographies

BLACKBURN, JOSIAH
BLAKE, EDWARD (baptized Dominick Edward)
BROWN, GEORGE
CARTIER, Sir GEORGE-ÉTIENNE
DESSAULLES, LOUIS-ANTOINE
DORION, Sir ANTOINE-AIMÉ
DRAPER, WILLIAM HENRY
GWYNNE, JOHN WELLINGTON
HARRISON, ROBERT ALEXANDER
HEAD, Sir EDMUND WALKER
HOWLAND, Sir WILLIAM PEARCE
LORANGER, THOMAS-JEAN-JACQUES
MACDONALD, JOHN SANDFIELD
MACDONALD, Sir JOHN ALEXANDER
MACDONELL (McDonell), ALLAN
RICHARDS, Sir WILLIAM BUELL
ROSE, Sir JOHN
SMITH, SIDNEY
VanKOUGHNET (Vankoughnet), PHILIP MICHAEL MATTHEW SCOTT
WILSON, Sir ADAM

Other Resources

"Double Shuffle" cabinet - Canadian history
Double Shuffle - The Canadian Encyclopedia. Content archived on 11 Dec. 2024

Image Gallery

We acknowledge the financial support of the Canadian Museum of History through the Online Works of Reference Program funded by the Government of Canada.
Nous reconnaissons l'aide financière du Musée canadien de l'histoire à travers les œuvres du programme de référence en ligne financés par le gouvernement du Canada.

We acknowledge the support of the Government of Canada.


Nous reconnaissons l’appui du gouvernement du Canada.

© 2003-2025 University of Toronto/Université Laval

Suggest corrections or additions

Important Notices

Websites of Interest

 
OK Cancel
OK