Before entering politics, Kirk Cornish, the freshman member of Parliament for North Abaco, was not a household name.

In fact, hardly anyone outside of Abaco had heard of him.

Since entering the House of Assembly, he has done nothing to distinguish himself, despite being made a parliamentary secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister.

The name recognition he had prior to this week has come from being embroiled in serious allegations. Police are still looking into that matter.

However, disregarding all that, over the weekend, at a banquet to celebrate our country's independence, no less, Cornish gave one of the most ignorant and arrogant explanations of what a parliamentary secretary's role is that we have ever heard.

"For many, let me explain what that means," he said.

"That means that on Abaco, Kirk is the prime minister. The only authority other than Kirk [that] leads this island is Brave Philip Edward Davis. So, get used to it."

The crowd cheered him on.

"Not because I refuse to go around and exert my powers, taking advantage of people, dismissing them from jobs, being rude and disrespectful means I don't have the authority," Cornish continued.

"I just have a presence of God in me that says, 'That ain't what I want from you. I didn't put you here to do that.'"

For the edification of Cornish, who clearly does not understand what it means to be a parliamentary secretary, allow us to explain.

According to the Manual of Cabinet and Ministry Procedure, "The primary duty of a parliamentary secretary is to assist his minister in the Parliament and in dealing with parliamentary matters generally.

"Within the ministry to which he has been assigned a parliamentary secretary may handle such matters as may be assigned to him by the minister to deal with on his behalf. This may vary from a general range of subjects to specific matters referred to him, depending on the size and complexity of the minister's portfolio."

Additionally, parliamentary secretaries do not give directives to the permanent secretary of the ministry they are attached to.

On the Family Islands, local government has the authority for day-to-day matters. The island administrator, appointed by the government, represents every aspect of the public service and government agencies on the island and is the chief accounting officer on the island.

Cornish has no power to dismiss anyone in the civil service and nothing about being a parliamentary secretary makes Cornish anything close to being prime minister.

He is prime minister of nowhere, and certainly not Abaco.

The temerity for him to suggest that he is in charge of Abaco is not only deeply troubling in his display of a basic lack of knowledge of civics, but deeply insulting.

It is an insult to the prime minister.

It is an insult to the Progressive Liberal Party he represents.

It is an insult to Central and South Abaco MP John Pinder II.

It is an insult to the people of Abaco.

And it is an insult to the people of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, who do not need those whose salaries they pay lecturing them on how lucky they are that they have chosen to exercise benevolence with powers they do not possess.

All of these people are owed an apology.

At least Pinder, who said he hoped Cornish spoke in error, understands his role.

"First and foremost, as a member of Parliament, it is our duty to serve the people in our constituencies and the additional titles held are at the discretion of our prime minister, the leader of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas," Pinder said.

"It is important to note that power is not the objective; rather, the objective is to serve the Bahamian people for the betterment of The Bahamas."

Pinder said his goal in office is to serve the people of Abaco and "with the title that I was given by the prime minister, to better the lives of Bahamian people across our archipelago".

Free National Movement Chairman Dr. Duane Sands has called Cornish a fool.

We do not think it too harsh to say that Cornish is a national disgrace.

He has also proven to be a poor student of history and politics.

Those who have to tell people they are powerful, are usually those who are not.

The post North Abaco MP fails to understand role appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

The post North Abaco MP fails to understand role appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

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