CNLOPB leadership sealed
Premier, feds refuse interviews on board appointments
The provincial and federal governments launched a process on Dec. 20, 2012 to create a panel tasked with putting forward a name for the next chair and CEO of the Canada Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.
The provincial and federal governments launched a process on Dec. 20, 2012 to create a three-person panel tasked with putting forward a name for the next chair and CEO of the Canada Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (CNLOPB).
But no one was ever appointed to that selection panel, a spokeswoman with the federal Department of Natural Resources said.
Instead, the entire process was shut down when an agreement on board appointments was reached between the two governments.
Scott Tessier, with Chevron Canada at the time, was named the next CNLOPB chair and CEO Jan 24.
At the same time, Ed Williams, director of human resources with Aurora Energy, was named to the vacant provincial seat.
Williams was also proclaimed the board’s vice-chairman.
Those appointments ended the deadlock over who should fill the chair and CEO’s position, and staffed a provincial seat on the board that had been empty for more than two years.
The Telegram requested an interview with Premier Kathy Dunderdale on the subject of the board appointments — in particular the question as to why the provincial government had left one of its three board seats open for as long as it did — but was denied any response from the premier.
The premier’s office directed all questions to provincial Natural Resources Minister Tom Marshall, who was not available for an interview prior to press time Tuesday.
Regardless, when then natural resources minister Jerome Kennedy was asked about CNLOPB appointments during an editorial board at The Telegram on Nov. 6, 2011, he said he would have liked to have seen the province’s empty seat filled at least a year earlier. Pressed on why it had not been done, Kennedy said the question would have to be answered by the premier.
Access to information requests filed with the provincial and federal governments reveal there were no letters or emails exchanged on the subject of CNLOPB appointments between the premier’s office and the office of federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver for the period November 2011 to November 2012 — save one.
Telegram questions about board appointments led to a brief email exchange between two communications officials, with each informing the other what their responses to the paper would be.
A separate access to information request showed no written communication between the premier and the prime minister on the subject for over a year — up to when the request was submitted on Dec. 28, 2012.
There were, however, three instances of communication from a staff member for the prime minister to the premier’s office: a writeup on the process of selecting the new CNLOPB chair and CEO; a draft for the selection criteria; and a reminder of a teleconference on July 31 with the executive search firm Knightsbridge Robertson Surette — selected to find candidates to become the next board chair and CEO.
None of the communications related to the province’s empty seat on the board.
There is also nothing that reveals why a new chair and CEO could not be “collaboratively selected by the provincial and federal governments” — as was touted in the Jan. 24, 2013 announcement — by the time the last chair Max Ruelokke was set to vacate the seat.
The date of Ruelokke’s departure, Oct. 26, 2012, was known and set from the time of his appointment. Even so, an interim chair had to be appointed because the provincial and federal governments did not settle on a new replacement for Ruelokke soon enough.
This week, The Telegram requested an interview with federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver on the subject of CNLOPB appointments, but did not receive a direct response to the request.
The Telegram asked for interviews with the new board appointees, but was told they could not be reached for comment. Their start date at the CNLOPB is Feb. 25.
Requests have previously been made to interview board member Reg Bowers, with Bowers declining through a spokesperson.
Other members of the board, including former chair and CEO Max Ruelokke, have refused to comment publicly about whether or not they believe the government appointees to the board have been appropriate choices.
The CNLOPB has about 70 full-time staff members feeding detailed information and recommendations to the board for key decisions around safety, benefits and environmental protection. Yet, however qualified the staff, it is the board that is ultimately responsible for key decisions about the province’s offshore oil industry.
The board is weighing whether or not to allow nighttime helicopter flights to and from offshore installations, as well as environmental considerations around drilling in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Both the provincial and federal governments have fallen under heavy criticism since the latest appointments were announced — accused of playing politics with important positions.
Ed Williams is brother to former premier Danny Williams, and, as was noted by NDP MP for St. John’s South-Mount Pearl Ryan Cleary in a recent letter to the editor, is a “friend to the Dunderdale administration.”
Reg Bowers was campaign manager for Conservative MP Peter Penashue in the last election, while incoming chair and CEO Scott Tessier served as chief of staff to former Conservative MP Loyola Hearn.
“You have to ask about the patronage appointments,” said Bill Montevecchi, a biologist with Memorial University. “Peter Penashue’s campaign manager gets appointed. Danny Williams’ brother gets appointed. ... I mean you can’t question necessarily the integrity of individuals, but you have to question a system that has no biologists, no ecologists. I mean why isn’t there a biologist on that board, or an ecologist? Why does it always have to be an oil guy or some corporate or political
I mean you can’t question necessarily the integrity of individuals, but you have to question a system that has no biologists, no ecologists. I mean why isn’t there a biologist on that board, or an ecologist?
Biologist Bill Montevecchi
(appointee)?”
While regular board appointments are considered part-time positions, the vice-chairman and chairman will each take in salaries of $150,000-$200,000 or more.
Meanwhile, on Jan. 25, the CNLOPB lost board member David Wells to a Senate appointment.
There has been no word on who may be appointed by the federal government to the CNLOPB seat left vacant by Wells.