Ruelokke files suit over offshore board holdup

The man picked to head the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board is taking the provincial government to court so he can actually start his job.

Max Ruelokke was selected chairman and chief executive officer of the federal-provincial regulator by an arbitration panel last December.

Ruelokke has not yet been able to assume the role, however, because the Newfoundland and Labrador government wants the duties of the position to be split between Ruelokke and St. John's Mayor Andy Wells.

• FROM DEC. 6, 2005: Wells passed over, but Williams still hopeful

The position 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.

"It's been very frustrating It's been nearly six months since my appointment," Ruelokke said Monday.

"I think the province is suffering and the industry is suffering by not having the leadership that the panel selected."

During his long dispute with the former Liberal government, Williams had wanted Wells to be appointed to head the CNLOPB, which manages the offshore oil industry on behalf of the two levels of government.

Like Williams, Wells supports a more aggressive role for Newfoundland and Labrador in the offshore oil industry.

Ruelokke, a former deputy minister who quit his oil industry job in December to avoid a conflict of interest, said he wants the Newfoundland Supreme Court to issue a writ compelling the provincial cabinet to authorize his appointment.

Ruelokke said he does not expect that his relationship with the provincial government will suffer as a result of the petition.

Officials at the provincial Department of Natural Resources are not commenting while the case is before the courts.