Court sides with Ruelokke in petroleum board spat

The provincial government has lost its fight over who should run the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.

Judge Raymond Halley ruled Monday that Max Ruelokke has been the de facto chair of the board since 2005.

Ruelokke had been selected as chairman and CEO of the federal-provincial regulator by an arbitration panel last December.

However, the Newfoundland and Labrador government refused to confirm Ruelokke's appointment, even though the panel's decision was binding on both levels of government.

Ruelokke went to court in June to obtain an order that would force the provincial minister of Natural Resources to name him as the board's chair and chief executive officer.

The lawyer representing the province argued in court last month that cabinet did not have to follow the panel's recommendation.

Instead, the province wanted Ruelokke and St. John's Mayor Andy Wells to split the position's duties.

However, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland is refusing to do that and has ruled that that Ruelokke is the board's chair.

Halley said that by trying to delay Ruelokke's selection, the province's conduct was "reprehensible."

In his ruling, Halley also said that the province's campaign to promote Wells was "doomed to failure" because he "had neither the professional background nor the industry experience to be qualified to act as the chair and CEO of the board."

The government has been ordered to pay all of Ruelokke's legal costs.

Ruelokke quit his oil industry job in December to avoid a conflict of interest and has not worked since.

The CNLOPB position, meanwhile, has been vacant for two years, in part because Premier Danny Williams and the former Liberal government in Ottawa could not agree on a leadership choice.