Ball says Coffey ‘not a partisan’ appointment
Party affiliation did not enter into the decision to hire Bern Coffey as the provincial government’s top civil servant, Premier Dwight Ball says.
Coffey ran for the Liberal party leadership in 2011, and has been associated with the party for years.
“His resume speaks for itself. His integrity speaks for itself. No one can question Bern Coffey’s integrity,” Ball said Thursday.
“This is not a partisan choice. If it was a partisan choice, Julia Mullaley would not be in a key role in government today,” Ball said. “That’s the irony in all this — Julia Mullaley was appointed by a former PC government.”
The clerk of the executive council is the province’s top civil servant, and typically that’s a non-partisan employee promoted from within the ranks of the province’s senior bureaucrats.
Mullaley was deputy minister and deputy clerk, and held other senior positions within the government.
She now heads the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corp., but only on an “acting” basis until the position is filled by the government’s Independent Appointments Commission (IAC).
The IAC was created by Ball to fulfil his election promise to take politics out of government appointments.
Ball said Mullaley won’t be out of a job, though, when she’s done at NL Housing.
“Julia Mulalley is a very quality, experienced, intelligent young woman. She will be in government for quite some time,” he said.
Both the opposition Progressive Conservatives and the NDP issued news releases on Wednesday accusing Ball of breaking his promise in spectacular fashion by appointing Coffey as clerk of the executive council.
In addition to running for the Liberal leadership in 2011, Coffey contributed $1,740 to the Liberal party and its candidates — including $200 to Ball directly for his campaign effort.
Coffey didn’t contribute anything to the Liberals in 2012-14. Elections NL still hasn’t posted any of the political finance information for 2015, so the public can’t know if Coffey donated to Liberal candidates in the most recent election. Coffey worked as a lawyer in the provincial government for 15 years before entering private practice.
When Ball was asked whether Coffey had any management experience, the premier couldn’t point to anything specific, although he said he believes Coffey is qualified.
“You look at his resume there, it kind of speaks for itself,” he said.
“There’s no question in my mind that Bern Coffey is experienced enough to be able to do this job.”