Nalcor should have focused on Nalcor, not 'digging up dirt,' Dwight Ball says
Premier says combative Nalcor board emails reveal need for change to appointments process
Premier Dwight Ball says emails sent among the Nalcor board after the budget speech reveal a misdirection of resources, and highlight the need for "merit-based" appointments to Crown boards.
Emails obtained by the Telegram reveal that following the speech, board members were trying to find information about Ball and Finance Minister Cathy Bennett in order to get "ammo in our assault rifles" and prepare for a public battle.
Former Nalcor chairman Ken Marshall asked staff to look into old conflict of interest accusations surrounding Bennett's time on the board, according to the paper.
In her budget speech, Finance Minister Cathy Bennett chastised Nalcor's need for billions of dollars, while paying employees increasingly large salaries and providing "no dividends" to the province."
After Bennett's comments, Marshall said employees were "literally kicked in the stomach and teeth with what I felt was a vitriolic and unfair attack," according to one of a series of messages the Telegram obtained under access to information.
Efforts should have been on company, Ball says
Ball said Thursday that these emails show that Nalcor was misdirecting its energy and resources.
"I think given where the project is at Muskrat Falls and all the activity that's ongoing at Nalcor …I would love to see their efforts more focused on Nalcor itself as opposed to trying to dig up issues [or] digging up dirt on the minister of Finance, or trying to find out information on me as the premier of the province," he said.
"The fact that those emails were being shared, this clearly, at least at this particular point, shows their efforts were not clearly directed on the best interests for the shareholders of the province."
Ball said that these emails are a "great example of why we need a better governance model at Nalcor and why we need in all our Crown agencies."
Creating the Independent Appointments Commission was part of the Liberal government's Bill 1, unveiled last March.
Shortly after the budget speech, Nalcor CEO Ed Martin and the entire board left the Crown corporation, spurring political scandal for Ball surrounding Martin's $6 million in severance and other payments.