Secretariat of the Salish Confederation

The Federal Secretariat or Secretariat (Coast Salish: Thi lelum s'uqéluxw), sometimes mistakenly called the Cabinet, is the chief executive body of the Salish Confederation. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and secretariat ministers. The fundamentals of the secretariat's organisation as well as the method of its election and appointment as well as the procedure for its dismissal are set down in Article 4 of the Constitution of the Salish Confederation.

The Secretariat is appointed at the whim of the Chancellor who is chosen by the Parliament, however both the Chancellor and Secretariat must retain the confidence of Parliament as individual ministers; who may be charged with impeachment and removed from office upon conviction by Parliament sitting as jurors. The Chancellor and the other members of the secretariat must be sitting members of the Parliament.

The Chancellor is the chief executive leader of the Secretariat. Therefore, the whole secretariat's tenure is linked to the Chancellor's tenure, and will end if the Chancellor's (and the secretariat's) term automatically ends, if the Chancellor is impeached, resigns, or dies; or if the Chancellor's term is extended by Parliament. The Chancellor is responsible for guiding the secretariat and deciding its political direction. According to the principle of departmentalization, the secretariat ministers are free to carry out their duties independently within the boundaries set by the Chancellor's political directives. The Chancellor may at any time dismiss a minister or to appoint a new minister. The Chancellor's freedom to shape their secretariat is only limited by some constitutional provisions; where the Chancellor cannot serve as a minister themselves, and the primary Federal Ministers of the secretariat cannot serve in one of the other portfolios at that level.

The current and 26th secretariat of the Salish Confederation is the Fifth SayerQT Secretariat, in office since 1 January 2022.

Current Ministers

Chancellor

See Chancellor of the Salish Confederation

Vice Chancellor

The vice chancellor of the Salish Confederation is the second-highest officer in the secretariat, after the chancellor of the Salish Confederation, and ranks first in the line of succession, as the Deputy to the Chancellor. The vice chancellor is also an officer in the legislative branch, as the speaker of Parliament. In this capacity, the vice chancellor is empowered to preside over Parliament deliberations at any time, and has a tie-breaking vote worth two if need be. The Vice Chancellor is the primary and key advisor to the Chancellor and is often an influential member of the Secretariat, dabbling in many of the different responsibilities of the different ministries, depending on who is Vice Chancellor. The office of the Vice Chancellor was established on 23 October 2020, with no federal deputy to the Chancellor existing prior (The defunct Lead Senator position previously existed as a semi-deputy until late May 2020). The incumbent Vice Chancellor is Vorobyevite, who has served under both Chancellor SayerQT and former chancellor FroyourFilms, since 1 December 2021.