Guest Post By Concerned Newfoundlander and Professional Engineer
Mr. Bernard Coffey
Clerk
Executive Council
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
Dear Sir:
Re: If You Are Not Part Of The Solution, You Are Part Of The Problem
I very much welcomed the announcement
in September, 2016 of your appointment as Clerk of the Executive Council.
Giving leadership to the day-to-day running of government is critical,
especially in these challenging times. The Muskrat Falls project is certainly one of the government's many challenges. For that reason, I was looking forward to your assuming the role of Chair of the Muskrat Falls Oversight
Committee and to much needed change.
As you know, this Committee was set
up in March of 2014 by then Premier Tom Marshall. Ostensibly, he was responding to citizens’ concerns over how poorly the project
was managed, to the enormous cost overruns and delay in the project schedule.
The
Oversight Committee was touted by the Minister of Natural Resources, at the time, as having an independent oversight role, one akin to that performed by the PUB. The current Premier, then Liberal leader of the Opposition, Dwight Ball,
expressed the position that a committee of bureaucrats reporting to Cabinet is
merely window dressing. As far as I can see, he was dead right.
