The MHA's new jobs

Placentia-St. Mary's MHA Felix Collins said he was surprised and pleased that Premier Danny Williams chose him to fulfill the role of Justice Minister and Attorney General in this month's cabinet shuffle.

Mr. Collins said he only found out about the appointment the night before it was announced and 24 hours before he was sworn in.

While he is happy about his new position, Mr. Collins did say he was fairly comfortable in his position as MHA and was happy with the results he was getting.

"It's a full time job with a big geographic district. I had a great relationship with my constituents and I was enjoying the work interacting with them every day and I was happy with that. Plus the fact I was assistant deputy speaker of the house, so in terms of workload and job satisfaction, I was pretty comfortable where I was and if appointments came and went, it didn't bother me," stated Mr. Collins.

"But when you get into this business, and you are asked to take on an increased role, when the premier feels he has confidence and can trust in you to fulfill a bigger role for him, that's part of business and you take it on."

He said the role of Justice Minister and Attorney General did make him ponder the entire question of taking on the jobs, but he is on board now and that is what matters.

"I wasn't anticipating justice, quite frankly. Justice is a different department than any other department in government. The justice department services all the other departments. It services all levels of government and also the province, and in the office of Attorney General, this department handles all litigation matters for the province," explained the local MHA. "It provides legal services to all departments, it deals with big ticket issues like Lower Churchill legal issues, land claims legal issues, some provincial issues and you just saw in The Telegram (earlier), one of our big issues, the correctional side. So it is a different type of department and as Minister of Justice I am responsible for all the policing and the court systems."

But, Mr. Collins said he feels comfortable because of his 11 years practicing law, which gives him some familiarity with the issues and the players.

"But as with every department, it's an onslaught of information you have to absorb and it'll take me some time to do that. But it is a challenging but exciting department and in hindsight now, I'm glad it is this department," Mr. Collins said. "I am honoured he chose me for this position and it's going to be a challenge."

With such an increase in workload, he said, how he deals with his region will be changed.

"Prior to now, I had the flexibility to react on my own time, with my own schedule with my constituents. I could come and go as I wished. I had complete authority, autonomy over that. That will be changed immensely. There will be a tighter schedule. I will not have the access to my district that I had in the past and I hope my constituents will understand that," said the Justice Minister.

"I think they will. But it is a big concern of mine and I've already had a number of discussions with people, and my colleagues, other ministers in other departments and with the constituency people to see how best I can maintain the best possible relations with my constituents," stated Mr. Collins. "You got to strike a balance."

editor@thecharter.ca