Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Nova Scotia. Department of Provincial Secretary
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1720-
History
The Provincial Secretary, first appointed in 1720, was responsible for all government record-keeping and for conducting all official correspondence. As a high-ranking minister, the Provincial Secretary was, until 1792, always a member of the Council and, from 1848, always a member of the Cabinet. From 1878 onwards the post was held on an ex officio basis by the Premier and, until 1946, the Provincial Secretary was also the Provincial Treasurer (Minister of Finance). Under the modern Public Service Act the Provincial Secretary became a department of government, responsible for the administration of numerous acts and for all other matters not specifically assigned to a minister. In 1980 the department's responsibilities were distributed among the Departments of Government Services (later Supply and Services), Consumer Affairs and Attorney General (now Justice). In 1993 all residual responsibilities of the Provincial Secretary were transferred to the Department of Justice. The Provincial Secretary as a department of the public service continues to exist statutorily if in no other sense.
Places
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
Mandates/sources of authority
Internal structures/genealogy
General context
Relationships area
Access points area
Subject access points
Place access points
Occupations
Control area
Authority record identifier
Maintained by
Institution identifier
CA NSA
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Final
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
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Sources
Authority record based on Arthur S. Barnstead, "Development of the Office of Provincial Secretary, Nova Scotia," Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society 24 (1938): 1-32; Statutes of Nova Scotia: 1972 c. 6; Orders in Council 79-1558 (4 Dec. 1979), 93-352 (8 Apr. 1993).