Collectively, Ministers oversee the conduct of national affairs. Ministers are collectively responsible before Parliament for the policies of the government as well as for the policies and programs of each Minister. Collective responsibility is in essence a pact with the Prime Minister and other Cabinet colleagues that they will stand together in the House and before the public. The Minister's individual actions affect his or her colleagues and the credit of the whole Ministry. A fundamental political limit to a Minister's powers is the necessary support of the Prime Minister and other colleagues for the Minister's proposals.
Ministers also decide collectively for very practical reasons.
The responsibilities of one Minister inevitably have implications for other Ministers. In addition to Ministers needing the political support and counsel of their colleagues, policies and programs must be reviewed in relation to each other if they are to be successful. Ministers share both parliamentary time and the scarce financial resources of the budget. In sum, both for constitutional and for very practical reasons, Ministers can only fulfill their individual responsibilities by acting in concert. Canadian Cabinet government requires Ministers to be continually seeking consensus upon their goals, policies, programs and even, to the degree the whole Ministry is affected, upon the means of implementing their programs.