A Newfoundland and Labrador cabinet minister says there's nothing wrong or new with a requirement to have Opposition MHAs contact her executive assistant for information for their constituents.

Joan Burke: 'This is not a new policy or a new practice.' (CBC)

Advanced Education and Skills Minister Joan Burke told CBC News Wednesday that recent criticism from the NDP and Liberals is inaccurate, and insists government is not trying to put greater controls on the information that constituents want.

"They are wrong," Burke told the St. John's Morning Show.

"This is not a new policy or a new practice. This is something that's been going on for quite some time," said Burke.

NDP and Liberal critics said they were astonished to learn that they must go through the executive assistants in some departments, including Burke's, rather than contact civil servants themselves to help resolve problems for their constituents.

Burke said she knows of cases in which civil servants have been upset with their dealings with Opposition MHAs, and cited a recent case — likely involving NDP MHA Dale Kirby, who issued a news release about Burke's department — in which a public servant disliked finding that their information turned into a news story.

"There's no need for the staff to be taking calls like this," said Burke.

While the Opposition parties worry that executive assistants — who are political appointees who work directly for cabinet ministers, and are not civil servants — will politicize issues or shut down lines of inquiry, Burke said the constituents' needs are paramount.

"This is all about helping the individuals, helping the constituents, and certainly as a minister I would not expect or even want my EA to be biased against any elected official from any party, and certainly not to do anything that would be to the detriment of a constituent," she said.

There does not, though, appear to be a government-wide policy on the issue, as different departments handle such queries from Opposition MHAs differently.

"This is a practice I have followed since 2003," Burke said.

New Democrat Gerry Rogers, who flagged her concerns over the issue earlier this week, said she has not been able to obtain a copy of the government policy on the issue.