Furey government making too many decisions in secret, say PCs

Opposition politicians say the Newfoundland and Labrador government ismaking important decisions in secret including quietly creating anew committee headed by Brendan Paddick, a friend of Premier Andrew Furey.

Interim PC Leader David Brazil spoke with reporters Wednesday following a report from allNewfoundlandLabrador that said the Furey government is taking as long as half a year to share some of its decisions online.

Brazilfocused specifically on part of the allNewfoundlandLabrador report that looked atthe creation of theChurchill River energy analysis team, a committee separatefrom the province's 2041committee for the Upper Churchill, and one that isn't mentioned on the provincial government's website.

Thatcommittee is chaired byPaddick, a close advisor to the premier, and afellow founder along with Furey of the Dollar A Day Foundation. Paddick, a former board chair of Nalcor Energy, was picked by Furey to lead the province's rate-mitigation team.

Brazil said he's OK with Paddick heading the committee if he is a qualified candidatebut he sees the committee as an instance of Fureygiving a personal friend an opportunity behind closed doors.

He wants the provincial government to be more open about Paddick's role, to make sure there isn't a conflict of interest.

"We ask dozens of questions in [the House of Assembly]about discussions that were happening or rumours that we were hearing were happening, and got shut down," Brazil said Wednesday. "Why would you not be transparent? It's the people's asset here. Have an open discussion."

Brazil said Paddick's appointment is the latest in a series of decisions government has made to keep information out of the public eye.

In particular, he pointed to the Rothschild report a rundown of how much the province's assets are worth that government won'tshare with the public and the dismissalof Stephen Clark, the former head of the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information who was let go in February without public knowledge. The government wouldn't say whether his dismissal was the result of a massive cyberattackduringwhich hackers stole private information and shut down most of the province's health-care systems.

Brazil also said the provincial government secretly created a committee on cybersecurity last year after the attack.

"When decisions are being made that will have an impact on the future of this province, the people of this province should know what's happening," Brazil said.

"Doing it behind closed doors makes you skeptical that there's more to what's happening than meets the eye, and we've found that in a number of things."

Labrador West MHA Jordan Brown called on the premier to be honest when it comes to the development of energy projects in Labrador.

"The premier must be honest about his intentions and when he's putting his buddies in positions of influence that will impact our future," Brown said in a press release Wednesday.

In a statement,Fureysaid Brazil wasaware of the cabinet decisions because of his government's openness, andhe defendedPaddick'sposition on the panel.

"The people of Newfoundland and Labrador benefited greatly from the work of Mr. Paddick and the rate mitigation team as it delivered a $5.2-billion deal for our province that ensured power rates would not double due to Muskrat Falls," Furey said.

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