Orders in Council Database

Under under the authority of sections 5 and 6 of the Parliamentary Secretaries Act, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council is pleased to implement the following guidelines pertaining to the functions, responsibilities and salary of Parliamentary Secretaries:

1) House of Assembly

a) In the absence of the Minister, a Parliamentary Secretary may make announcements and statements in the House of Assembly, on behalf of the

Minister, relating to the relevant activities, plans and policies of the relevant government department; and

b) Intheabsence ofthe Minister, a Parliamentary Secretary may respond on behalf of the Minister to questions posed to the Minister in the House of Assembly;

2) Cabinet Committees

a) A Minister may invite his or her Parliamentary Secretary to attend meetings of Policy Committees ofCabinet, asdeemed necessary byt he Minister, when there is a Cabinet submission of that Minister on the agenda, and only for the portion of the meeting in which the Submission is under discussion;

3) Cabinet

a) A Parliamentary Secretary will have no privileges to attend either Cabinet or a Special Committee of Cabinet;

4) Access to Confidential Information

a) In recognition of the privileged position occupied by a Parliamentary Secretary and the access which he or she may have to confidential information relating to the plans and priorities oftheir assigned Department and Cabinet Submissions of that Department, a person appointed as Parliamentary Secretary is expected to maintain the same standards of confidentiality as a Minister of the Crown, and will be required to swear or otherwise affirm an appropriate Oath of Office;

b) Part II (Conflict of Interest) of the House of Assembly Act are applicable to Parliamentary Secretaries as are the Conflict of Interest Guidelines for Ministers approved in MC98-0022, a copy of which is on file with the Clerk of the Executive Council; and

c) The blind trust guidelines respecting Ministers established pursuant to MC98-0206are also applicable to Parliamentary Secretaries, namely:

i) A Parliamentary Secretary directly pays the costs associated with establishing and maintaining the blind trust;

ii) AParliamentary Secretary submits paid invoices to the Commissioner for Members Interests for verification and approval; and

iii) Subject to approval of the Commissioner, the invoice shall be submitted to the Parliamentary Secretary's department for reimbursement to the Parliamentary Secretary;

5) Travel and Secretarial Assistance

a) A Parliamentary Secretary is entitled to becompensated attherates applicable to Ministers for travel expenses and entertainment;

b) A Parliamentary Secretary will use thesecretarial assistant assigned to him or her as a Member of the House of Assembly in fulfilling the role of Parliamentary Secretary;

6) Government Department

a) A Parliamentary Secretary may act as analternate for the Minister inrepresenting a department at public meetings or in receiving dignitaries or delegations but may not make any commitments on behalf of Government; and

b) At the discretion of the Minister, a Parliamentary Secretary may take direct part in the administration or program delivery of a department but may not create legal obligations, exercise legal authority or commit to expenditure of public funds;

7) Salary

a) A Parliamentary Secretary shall not be entitled to a salary in accordance with subsection 6(1) of the Parliamentary Secretaries Act; and

8) OC2003-623 is hereby replaced.