A parliamentary secretary is a member of parliament in the Westminster system who assists a more senior minister with their duties.
In the parliamentary systems of several Commonwealth countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, India and Singapore, it is customary for the prime minister to appoint parliamentary secretaries from their political party in parliament to assist cabinet ministers with their work.
Their duty was to answer questions and table reports on behalf of ministers when they were unable to be present in the house.
Chrétien's successor as Canadian prime minister, Paul Martin, when sworn in in 2003, promised a new role for parliamentary secretaries.
They would now be sworn into the privy council, giving them access to some secret documents, and allowing them to attend Canadian Cabinet meetings and be assigned specific files by ministers.
Under the Soulbury Constitution, junior members of parliament were appointed to serve as parliamentary secretaries.
A parliamentary private secretary (PPS), on the other hand, is a member of parliament who acts as an unpaid assistant to an individual minister, but has no ministerial role, although is expected to support the government at all times.
A parliamentary state secretary (Parlamentarischer Staatssekretär, PStS) is a member of the Bundestag given a portfolio to assist a minister with running a government ministry.