Controversial $336,000 Nalcor contract terminated
A controversial contract that included a $3,000 housing allowance to a former deputy minister living in Scotland has been terminated by Nalcor Energy’s “Oilco.”
As The Telegram first reported in May 2019, Gordon Mcintosh’s firm Aberdeen International Associates (AIA) entered into a $336,000 contract with Nalcor Energy’s oil and gas division. In 2016 and 2017, Mcintosh was deputy minister in the Department of Natural Resources, which paid $185,000 annually.
The contract included a $3,000 monthly housing stipend for time spent in St. John’s while Mcintosh was working for Nalcor.
The termination, first reported by the CBC, comes as part of preparation for the 2020 provincial budget.
“As part of the 2020 budget process we assessed our current and future business in light of our transition to the new company and made changes to some contracts,” Oilco head Jim Keating wrote in a statement.
“As part of that process we reviewed the service agreement with AIA and made the decision to terminate the contract effective April 24,” Keating stated. “Priority workscopes undertaken by AIA will either be reallocated among staff of the new oil and gas corporation or absorbed by government.”
Mcintosh had been instrumental in crafting the Advance 2030 policy for the provincial government, which seeks to double oil and gas production in the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore by 2030. Mcintosh was first eyed by the provincial government for his work in expanding the Scottish oil and gas industry.
A Nalcor spokesperson says the Crown corporation is in the process of ending its agreement with Mcintosh. There are no severance benefits associated with the move.
Progressive Conservative Leader Ches Crosbie says he’s not sure why Mcintosh was hired in the first place.
“Under the cover of a pandemic, the government has ditched a consultant whose work they told us they really needed,” Crosbie stated in a news release.
“Their decision to terminate the contract calls into question whether the contract was ever needed.”
In March, Natural Resources Minister Siobhan Coady ordered the Oilco board of directors to review contracts and report back to the minister.
A request for comment to Coady was directed to Nalcor.
Premier Dwight Ball says his office had no involvement in the implementation or termination of Mcintosh’s contract.
“There was no involvement in Nalcor negotiations for the hiring of Mr. Mcintosh; similarly, we had no input in Oilco’s decision to terminate Mr. Mcintosh’s contract,” reads a statement from the Premier’s Office.
“Mr. Mcintosh brought a wealth of experience during his time in Newfoundland and Labrador and we wish him all the best.”
Mcintosh did not return a request for comment by deadline.