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Government of Prince Edward Island

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Government of
Prince Edward Island
Gouvernement de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard
Provincial government
Coat of arms of Prince Edward Island
Coat of arms of Prince Edward Island
Formation1 July 1873; 151 years ago (1873-07-01)
Founding documentConstitution Act, 1867
Province Prince Edward Island
Country Canada
Websitewww.princeedwardisland.ca
Crown
SovereignMonarch
Vice-regal representativeLieutenant Governor
SeatGovernment House
Legislative
(Crown-in-Parliament)
LegislatureGeneral Assembly of Prince Edward Island
Meeting placeProvince House[a]
Executive
(Crown-in-Council)
Head of governmentPremier
Appointed byLieutenant Governor
HeadquartersCharlottetown
Main organExecutive Council
Departments10 departments
Judicial
(Crown-on-the-Bench)
CourtCourt of Appeal
SeatSir Louis Henry Davies Law Courts Building, Charlottetown

The Government of Prince Edward Island refers to the provincial government of the province of Prince Edward Island. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867.

In modern Canadian use, the term "government" referred broadly to the cabinet of the day (formally the Executive Council of Prince Edward Island), elected from the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island and the non-political staff within each provincial department or agency – that is, the civil service.

The Province of Prince Edward Island is governed by a unicameral legislature, the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island, which operates in the Westminster system of government. The political party that wins the largest number of seats in the legislature normally forms the government, and the party's leader becomes premier of the province, i.e., the head of the government.

Lieutenant-Governor of Prince Edward Island

Further information: Monarchy in Prince Edward Island

The functions of the Sovereign, Charles III, King of Canada, known in Prince Edward Island as the King in Right of Prince Edward Island, are exercised by the Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island. The Lieutenant Governor is appointed by the Governor General of Canada on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, in consultation with the Premier of Prince Edward Island.

Ministries

[2]

Public Administration

Frank MacKinnon’s book “The Government of Prince Edward Island”[3] (1951) provides an early view of public administration in the province. MacKinnon characterized the Government of Prince Edward Island as being located in a “small place” and an “unusual example of local democracy”. Throughout the 1990’s, the public service went through significant change with budget cuts and the introduction of new ways of thinking about governance and management.[4]

Today, public administration in Prince Edward Island is thought to be affected by the relatively small size of both the civil service and province (both in terms of population and land area). The provincial civil service establishment consists of approximately 4,343 civil servants as of March 31, 2022 while the population of the province is approximately 170,000 (therefore, approximately 3% of residents of the province work for the provincial civil service).

Prince Edward Island being a small place provides benefits and challenges for public administration. It can be difficult for public administrators to remain objective and make difficult policy choices when there are close personal connections between civil servants, politicians and residents.[5] However, expedited public engagement and problem identification is thought to be enhanced by the small context of Prince Edward Island’s public administration which allows for quickly identifying problems, leading to more opportunities for innovation and positive change.[5] Public administrators have reported that there is a continued need for new tools for civil servants to promote innovation and change in the province.[6] Overall, an enduring challenge for public administration and administrators in this province is the reality that services must be provided in the same manner and degree as larger provinces, but with a significantly lower budget and capacity to do so.[7]

Provincial public administration in Prince Edward Island is overseen by several accountability mechanisms and offices including the Civil Services Act, an Ethics and Integrity Commissioner as well as an Ombudsperson and Public Interest Disclosure Commissioner. There is also a diversity management policy which provides structure and resources for promoting equity and inclusion in the civil service.[8][9]

Controversies

The period of 1900 to 1966 is marked with several controversies involving public administration in Prince Edward Island, including widespread government appointments based on patronage.[10] More recently, three former civil servants filed a $1.8M suit against a former P.E.I. premier and government agency over a privacy breach related to complaints against an immigration program.[11] This incident is connected to a larger event involving claims of corruption and conflicts of interest associated with a program that allegedly provided preferential treatment to some individuals over others.[12][13]

Other controversies include:

  • a multi-million dollar suit filed against the Government of Prince Edward Island in relation to a freedom of information request[14]
  • a development project that went ahead despite a stop-work order[15]
  • questionable purchases made by the Minister of Finance[16] and Minister of Agriculture[17]
  • policies regarding foster parents[18]
  • allegations related to e-gaming[19][20]
  • conflict of interest issues related to a senior civil servant[21]
  • contravention of the Archives and Records Act in relation to not disclosing missing e-mails during an access to information request[22][23]
  • failure to provide documents as part of an access to information request associated with a legal proceeding[24]


See also

Notes

  1. ^ During renovations to Province House started in 2015, the Legislature meets in the Hon. George Coles Building.[1]

References

  1. ^ "Temporary P.E.I. legislature in Coles Building still attracting visitors". CBC News. July 19, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  2. ^ Toolkit, Web Experience. "Departments". www.princeedwardisland.ca. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  3. ^ MacKinnon, Frank (1951). The Government of Prince Edward Island. University of Toronto Press.
  4. ^ Crossley, John (2000). The career public service in Prince Edward Island: Evolution and challenges (in Government Restructuring and Career Public Service in Canada). Canada: Institute of Public Administration of Canada. p. 208. ISBN 0-920715-92-3.
  5. ^ a b Cameron, Bobby (2020). "Governmental policy capacity and policy work in a small place: Reflections on perceptions of civil servants in Prince Edward Island, Canada from a practitioner in the field". Journal of Public Administration Studies. 5 (2): 83–84.
  6. ^ Cameron, Bobby (2018). "Understanding policy workers' policy innovation capacity: An exploratory and qualitative mixed methods evaluation study of a policy hackathon program In Prince Edward Island, Canada". Centre for Policy Innovation and Public Engagement (Toronto): 4 – via IslandScholar.
  7. ^ Conrad, Patricia (2018). "Austerity in the garden province of Prince Edward Island". In Evans & Fannelli (ed.). The Public Sector in an Age of Austerity: Perspectives from Canada's Provinces and Territories. Canada: McGill-Queen’s University Press. p. 243. ISBN 978-0-7735-5419-1.
  8. ^ McGrandle, Jocelyn (2017). "Understanding Diversity Management in the Public Sector: A Case for Contingency Theory". International Journal of Public Administration. 40 (6): 1–12. doi:10.1080/01900692.2015.1136942 – via Taylor & Francis Online.
  9. ^ Christian, Isabelle (2005). Perceptions of organizational culture in the Prince Edward Island public sector: Through the eyes of women in senior management [Thesis]. Canada: University of Prince Edward Island.
  10. ^ Wilson, Zach (2023). A matter of perspective: examining political corruption on Prince Edward Island, 1900-1966 [Honours Graduating Essay]. Canada: University of Prince Edward Island. p. 30.
  11. ^ Campbell, Kerry (February 7, 2019). "3 former civil servants file $1.8M suit against former P.E.I. premier, government agency over privacy breach". CBC. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  12. ^ Moore, Olive (December 31, 2009). "Conflicts of interest strangle PEI politics". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  13. ^ McMahon, Tamsin (December 17, 2011). "Immigrant-investor program in Maritimes collapses in scandal, lawsuits". The National Post. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  14. ^ Campbell, Kerry (October 14, 2021). "P.E.I. Department of Finance apologizes for failing to disclose emails from ex-minister". CBC. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  15. ^ Meader, Laura (March 31, 2023). "P.E.I. gov't issued stop-work order on Point Deroche project last fall, documents show". CBC. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  16. ^ Neatby, Stu (April 27, 2022). "P.E.I. finance minister offers to reimburse taxpayers after questions about $500 truck hitch". The Guardian. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  17. ^ "Opposition says George Webster broke accountability rules". CBC. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  18. ^ Lord, Ross (May 20, 2019). "Controversy grows over PEI government's treatment of long-time foster parents". Global News. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  19. ^ "Supreme Court rules in P.E.I. government's favour in $150M e-gaming lawsuit". CBC. September 25, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  20. ^ CMT et al. v. Gov't of PEI et al., 2016 PESC 4 (CanLII), <https://canlii.ca/t/gn7tr>, retrieved on 2023-08-05
  21. ^ "Former P.E.I. bureaucrat didn't fully comply with conflict of interest rules, says ethics watchdog". CBC. August 24, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  22. ^ Campbell, Kerry (June 15, 2020). "P.E.I. government 'deliberately withheld' information on missing emails, commissioner rules". CBC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  23. ^ Williams, Nicole (November 6, 2020). "'Hindsight is always 20/20': Deputy minister answers to committee on missing records". CBC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  24. ^ Campbell, Kerry (October 14, 2021). "P.E.I. Department of Finance apologizes for failing to disclose emails from ex-minister". CBC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.


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