Ministers of State are also members of the King's Privy Council for Canada, as is required for them to be a part of the ministry.
Their duty was to answer questions and table reports on behalf of ministers when they were unable to be present in the house.
Derek Burney, the head of Harper's transition team, noted to the press that this was intentional: ministers of state and the role of Deputy Prime Minister were omitted to create a cabinet of full equals.
[2] On January 4, 2007, Harper added five secretaries of state to his ministry thus reviving the practice of appointing junior ministers outside of the Cabinet.
[4] The Minister of State (Public Health) was a position in the government of Paul Martin that lasted from 12 December 2003 to 5 February 2006.
[7] As minister, Bennett was responsible for setting up the Public Health Agency of Canada.
[7][8][9] On 17 May 2004, Bennett announced a new position she called Chief Public Health Officer (CPHO), and that "the CPHO will be primarily located in Winnipeg, with offices in Ottawa, and will have responsibilities for the three key functions of the Agency: infectious diseases, emergency preparedness and chronic diseases."
[10] On 23 October 2004 with the advice of a blue-ribbon council, Bennett appointed David Butler-Jones as Canada's first CPHO.