Premier defends criticism of Ed Martin; PCs say he 'doesn't accept' AG report
Premier Dwight Ball repeated on Tuesday that former Nalcor CEO Ed Martin voluntarily left his position, despite a biting report by the province's auditor general calling it a constructive dismissal.
Ball also defended his government's criticism of Martin, even though the auditor general wrote that the public criticism eventually led to a controversial multi-million dollar severance package.
In a report released Monday, Terry Paddon wrote that the government's refusal to support Martin in early 2016, and the budget speech delivered that April, effectively pushed Martin out of his job.
Ball would not directly say he disagreed with Paddon's conclusion, but did defend his government's criticism of Nalcor that year.
"Simply saying that Nalcor has not paid any dividends to the government of Newfoundland and Labrador, I mean that's a fact. They have not," Ball told reporters on Tuesday.
"These were all facts. It was a fact that the schedule and the budget for Muskrat Falls project were having an impact on [provincial government finances.]"
Challenging CEOs part of the job
Ball said challenging the executives on government boards, commissions and corporations is part of his job as premier of the province — and one that he won't stop doing.
In April, Finance Minister Cathy Bennett criticized Nalcor in her budget speech, suggesting that executives there were overpaid. Former CEO Ed Martin made $700,000 yearly when he was on the job.
"We had [Muskrat Falls] there that was significantly overbudget, it was losing schedule," Ball said. "So my job is to protect the interest of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and in some cases that would be to challenge CEOs, which is what I was doing."
Though Ball did not say Paddon made an error in finding that the comments amounted to constructive dismissal — Ball said he could see the merit of that reasoning — he continued to say on Tuesday that Martin voluntarily resigned from Nalcor, even if Paddon found differently.
"He stepped aside, he left his job, as a matter of fact he left his job on his own terms. He worked the next day [following our final meeting]," Ball said.
"If I had terminated him on April 19 ... he would not have been working the next day."
That was despite a finding by Paddon that Martin "had no intention to voluntarily resign from his position."
Ball said interpreting the events as a constructive dismissal was "a decision that is made by others."
Martin was pushed out: AG
The auditor general said criticism in the budget speech and government's refusal to support Martin afterwards made it impossible for Martin to continue in his job.
In April 2016, Martin met with Ball and asked Ball to publicly support his leadership of Nalcor, and said otherwise he would leave the company.
"I was not prepared to actually be a so-called cheerleader, or champion, publicly support the CEO," Ball said Tuesday.
"In the April 19, 2016 meeting, the Premier stated that he could not put the confidence behind public support for Mr. Martin and his team," wrote Paddon. "This statement by the Premier was incompatible with the continued employment of Mr. Martin as the CEO of Nalcor."
Government should have known: PCs
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday afternoon, PC leader Paul Davis called for the dismissal of Bennett and Natural Resources Minister Siobhan Coady, alleging they should have known the consequences of criticizing Ed Martin publicly.
"The minister of finance didn't do her job making the premier aware of what they were getting into when she spoke in the budget speech," he said.
Davis said that by continuing to call Martin's departure a resignation, Ball "doesn't accept" the auditor general's report.
