Dwight Ball tight-lipped on scandals after resigning as premier

The day after his abrupt resignation as premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Dwight Ball is taking questions — but the answers echo Monday's pre-recorded video statement in which he announced he's stepping down.

Ball stuck to outlining his government's accomplishments throughout Tuesday's interview with CBC News, refusing to address recent scandals that insiders say left his caucus and cabinet splintered, turning members of his own party against him.

"It is time for renewal," he said in response to a question about pressures from within the party. Ball bridged that query to discuss, instead, the costs of delivering services throughout the province.

He would also not single out any decision he felt he could have handled better.

"I'm not going to go back and say these are things I would change or do differently.… The outcomes are more important to me," he said.

Although he faced turmoil in recent weeks, Ball pointed to last year's election as evidence he hadn't lost the public's confidence.

But despite winning a second term in that election — which downgraded his majority Liberal government to a minority — Ball said he felt unprepared to campaign again in an unstable environment.

"If you're in a minority situation you must be ready to run at any time," he said. "And that was not [something] I was willing to put my campaign team through, my family through."

Ball said he'd taken time over the holidays to reflect on his decade-long political career, concluding that he held the issue of power rate mitigation closest to his heart.

He stepped down just days after delivering a revamped financial restructuring plan that would save the province billions in the face of a disastrous hydroelectricity project commissioned by a previous government.

However, that plan did not account for a shortfall that could lead to increases in rates, higher taxes or widespread austerity measures.

WATCH: Opposition leaders react to Dwight Ball's resignation:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement shortly after 10:30 a.m. NT thanking Ball for his service and referencing Ball's efforts to plug the drain on provincial coffers generated by that hydro project.

"In the years that I have worked with Premier Ball, we made important progress on the issues that matter most to Canadians, including investing in health care, fighting climate change and protecting our environment, and building an economy that works for everyone," Trudeau said.

Resignation a 'bright, shining light': Joyce

In the hours since Monday's announcement, MHAs across the province have been trying to process what happened while calculating their next moves.

"I think it's a bright, shining light for the Liberal Party, for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. This is an opportunity to refresh the Liberal Party, to refresh it with new leadership, with new ideas," Independent MHA Eddie Joyce told CBC Tuesday morning.

Ball ousted Joyce from the Liberal caucus in April 2018, after a lengthy investigation into allegations of bullying. Joyce was mostly cleared of those, and returned to the House as an Independent in last year's election.

"When times were tough personally and politically for Dwight Ball, the two people that stuck with Dwight Ball, and sometimes got in front to take the bullets for Dwight Ball, was Eddie Joyce and Dale Kirby," Joyce said.

"We're proud we did it. [It's] too bad at times when things were a bit difficult for us that Dwight Ball didn't stand up and just tell the truth."

Joyce added he wishes Ball and his family all the best.

Others in government said they empathized with the challenges Ball faced over his five-year tenure.

With a looming budget, his unfinished rate mitigation plan, and mounting pressure from the public over a string of recent hiring scandals, Liberal cabinet minister Lisa Dempster said she thinks Ball was worn out, like many politicians who spend years in elected office.

"I'd say [he] will go down in history as the premier that inherited the most difficult fiscal situation that our province has ever known," Dempster said.

"You reach a point — where clearly he did — that you begin to reflect on priorities and you decided now is the time to step back."

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