Ed Martin and Dwight Ball in their own words on $1.4M Nalcor severance package

What a difference a month makes.

If Ed Martin or Dwight Ball had any inkling that Martin was going to be fired as CEO of Nalcor by itsboard of directors on April 20, neither mentioned itat the lengthy press conferenceeach held when Martin announced his seemingly-voluntary departure from the energy corporation earlier that same day.

• Ed Martin fired after quitting Nalcor, triggering $1.4M severance, says Dwight Ball

"Today, I have come to that time and I will be stepping down as president," said Martin, adding he wanted to spend more time with his family.

"It's my decision, as I laid out."

His statements werebacked up by the premier.

"This was a decision that he made, to step down, and he's at the stage of his life where you make those decisions," said Ball.

But stepping downisn't exactly what happened, as we now know, a month later.

As CBC News reported Tuesday, Ball said Martin was in fact fired without cause by the board of directors the same day he announced his resignation, thereby ensuring he received a$1,387,815.75severance package he would not have been entitled to had he voluntarily left.

The board of directors then resigned themselves.

• Entire Nalcor board resigns in wake of Ed Martin departure

Prior to any resignations, Nalcor's operations, especiallythe cost overruns and delays at the Muskrat Falls megaproject, had been highly scrutinized by the Liberal government when it delivered its April 14 budget.

Prior meetings

Before any of those bombshells, Martin and Ball met privately, twice, to discuss the details of Martin's departure.

The two met on April 17, a meeting both say Martin asked for, and then again the night before the April 20 press conferences.

• Ed Martin steps down from Nalcor helm amid government criticism

"Iinitiated the call to the premier, and he was gracious enough to meet, and we talked things throughand found a way forward that was acceptable," Martin told reporters.

Martin also said he did not speak of resignation to anyone else until after those meetings.

"Ispoke to the premier first. and I waited until after we had an alignment. Because Iwanted to make sure that was there," said Martin, without elaborating on what the 'alignment' specifically entailed.

Ball kept the details of the meetings similarly vague.

"We talked about a number of different scenarios," Ball said.

"We had a very good discussion in terms of the future for Mr. Martin."

Severance chat?

Ball has maintained that he only learned the details of Martin's severance package on May 5, one day after CBC and other media outlets reported the $1.4 million figure.

On April 20, Ball said Martin's contract, along with any severance, wasn't under his jurisdiction.

Anything that's in the contract that speaks to severance...we will honour the commitments.- Dwight Ball

"It's a board to CEOrelationship," he said.

"Anything that's in the contract that speaks to severance and those sorts of things, we will honour the commitments that should be made."

Martin himself said as of the morning of April 20, any payout was still up in the air.

"I'm not in a place to speak about that," he said.

• Liberals shift blame for Ed Martin's severance

"That would be a board discussion, and I would recuse myself from that discussionthose details haven't been finalized right now."

Martin accepted his severance package, worth two years' salary, on April 26.