EDMONTON—Alberta’s United Conservative government pushed ahead with its torrid pace of change Friday, rolling out dozens of new appointees to the boards of universities, colleges and the health services overseer in a wave of a change that left some of those newly ousted reeling.
The government defended the sweep as part of its businesslike approach with a focus on the economy, but the legislature’s Opposition NDP slammed the move, which saw around 60 high-level appointee positions affected, calling it “cronyism.”
While new governments often shuffle around appointees in agencies, boards and commissions, some say they were not aware the changes were coming.
A spokesperson from the premier’s office said that the decisions were made at a cabinet meeting a day earlier, resulting in the dump of announcements Friday morning.
The appointments include changes at the boards of 11 post-secondary institutions, including new chairs at the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta, as well as new appointments on the Alberta Health Services board and at Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis.
Michael Phair, the former chair at U of A and a prominent former Edmonton politician, has been replaced by Kate Chisholm, senior vice-president of the chief legal and sustainability office at Capital Power, a utilities company based in Edmonton.
Phair — who held one of around 60 positions involved in the shuffle — was in the midst of his second term as board chair at U of A, he said, and was only notified Thursday evening of his termination.
“I had no idea,” Phair said. He added others who were let go on various university boards were given little notice, as well. Five other public board members were appointed to the U of A by the government on Friday morning.
Phair alleged that some appointments were also made without following proper procedures, such as publicly announcing board vacancies on the government website and interviewing candidates. He said he was interviewed for his board position by the previous Alberta NDP government.
“I don’t believe that any of that has been done. There was no process of people going through an interview or being asked to apply that I am aware of,” Phair said.
When asked about Phair’s concerns around proper procedure, Laurie Chandler, a spokesperson for Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides, did not provide a direct answer. She instead thanked Phair for his work over the past number of years on U of A’s board in an emailed statement, as well as all other outgoing members, and added it’s reasonable for a new government to appoint new board members who align with “the mandate it received from Albertans.”
“We have consistently heard that a number of ABCs (agencies, boards and commissions) lacked the strong financial acumen and business experience necessary to be good stewards of the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that they control,” Chandler said. “It is incumbent upon us to ensure Alberta’s ABC membership has the appropriate skill sets and experience necessary to effectively and efficiently serve Albertans.”
“This is consistent with our businesslike approach to government and leadership,” she added.
While Phair was given little notice, he said he wasn’t surprised about his termination, since the board chair acts as a liaison between the government and the university, and the current government would ideally like to appoint someone in that position themselves.
“It’s important for them to have someone they trust,” Phair said.
The U of A board is responsible for a $2-billion budget and overseeing 40,000 students. Phair added the university is also the second-largest employer in Edmonton. “It’s a very significant and important position to be at the board of governors at the U of A,” Phair said.
David Eggen, the Opposition NDP’s advanced education critic, told reporters at a news conference in Edmonton on Friday that it appeared the United Conservative Party was going back to the “bad old days of cronyism.”
The previous NDP government had put in place a system of open applications for agency and board positions and it looked like that was “thrown out the window,” Eggen said, adding some people were moved out before the end of their terms.
“Our government made sure to look for continuity and a sense of institutional memory,” said Eggen, Alberta’s former education minister.
Other new appointments include two by Health Minister Tyler Shandro to the Alberta Health Services board — Capital Power CEO Brian Vaasjo and the president of the Alberta Lawyers Insurance Association David Weyant, who will now serve as chair of the board, replacing Linda Hughes. Shandro said in a release that Hughes has agreed to stay on as a board member.
The Alberta Health Services board is responsible for the governance of the province’s health authority. It has eight members, who are all appointed by the health minister. Vaasjo and Weyant will serve on the board for three years each.
“These new members add extensive financial, legal and business expertise to the broad range of skills and experience on the AHS board,” Shandro said in a release. “They’ll make the board even stronger as we move forward to ensure the health system delivers the best results for Albertans.”
The post-secondary appointments include Geeta Sankappanavar as the new board chair for the University of Calgary. She is the president of Grafton Asset Management, a Calgary-based energy sector investment firm, and was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women.
SAIT’s new board chair, Scott Thon, is president and CFO of AltaLink, and NAIT’s new board chair, Ray Pisani, is president and CEO of Alberta Blue Cross. Pisani has been on the NAIT board since 2013. Mount Royal’s new board chair, Alex Pourbaix, is president and CEO of Cenovus Energy, a Calgary-based oil company.
Changes were also made to the Workers’ Compensation Board, which is responsible for bringing compensation to Albertans who are injured on the job, by reducing the number of members to seven from 10 as a cost-saving measure of $56,000.
“The change will ensure that more employer dollars are spent on the WCB’s core business, maximizing investment in benefits and services for injured workers and their employers,” said a news release by the ministry of labour.
Erna Ference has been appointed as the new chair of the Workers’ Compensation Board, replacing Grace Thostenson, who has served since October 2018.
Another news release Friday morning outlined changes to the province’s Human Rights Commission with the appointment of five new tribunal members. The new members include lawyers Teresa Haykowksy and Collin May; Erika Ringseis, a senior legal counsel in Calgary; Doris Bonora, a partner at Dentons Canada LLP; and Moin Yahya, a professor of law at the University of Alberta and a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute.
New faces have also been appointed to the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission board, including Len Rhodes as the new chair. Rhodes previously ran as a candidate for the UCP in Edmonton-Meadows, but lost to Alberta NDP candidate Jasvir Deol. He is also the former president and CEO of the Edmonton Eskimos.
Rhodes had been appointed by the UCP to run in the riding and the move received some backlash from others who had been campaigning to be the party’s nominee.
When asked about whether the appointment of Rhodes could create a conflict of interest given his previous status as a UCP candidate, Jerrica Goodwin, press secretary with the Treasury Board and Finance, said in an email there is no conflict because “AGLC is not involved in anything to do with political parties.”
But she added a number of AGLC appointments were rescinded, “as appointees serve ‘at the pleasure’ of the government of the day ... In Canada, this is not abnormal when a change of government occurs.”
Duane Bratt, a political science professor at Mount Royal University, said it isn’t unusual for a new government to shake things up and appoint people more in line with their ideology.
“This shouldn’t shock people,” Bratt said, adding that the NDP government had done the same thing in 2015.
But what’s different from 2015 is the speed at which the United Conservative government is rolling, he said.
He also had questions around the changes and if those shuffled out were asked to resign or not.
“What’s different here is a lot of these positions still had time remaining on their appointment, so I’m wondering, were they asked to just voluntarily resign?” he said.
“If you’re allowing people to continue their term, that looks to be more fair or more transparent than just saying, ‘Everybody who was appointed, regardless if you have a year or two years left, we’re going to ask you to leave right now so we can put our own people in place.’”
Nadine Yousif is a reporter/photographer for Star Edmonton. Follow her on twitter: @nadineyousif_
