Elizabeth Matthews, the former director of communications for former premier Danny Williams, withdrew her nomination from the board of the C-NLOPB this morning, saying the controversy surrounding her appointment was “disturbing and irresponsible.”
Matthews, one of the staffers closest to Williams, was appointed to the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) 18 days after Williams left office in December. The provincial government was nominating her to be vice-chair of the board, a position that pays between $165,000-$195,000 and requires federal approval.
The decision was not announced at the time, and came out through the media more than two months later.
In a one-page statement sent to news outlets this morning, Matthews said that criticism of her appointment by the Official Opposition is “slanderous.”
“The work of the C-NLOPB is critically important to our offshore workers,” Matthews said. “I have been deeply troubled that those people have been used by the Leader of the Opposition as political fodder in this debate.”
She said the opposition has gone too far with their criticism, including linking her appointment to offshore safety and the Cougar helicopter tragedy of two years ago.
“To imply that my potential appointment could somehow compromise offshore safety is very disturbing and irresponsible,” she said.
“The depth to which the Opposition has taken this debate is a political agenda taken too far. For this reason I am withdrawing my name from the nomination process.”
Matthews said with an election due in October, she hopes the Liberal Party is punished for politicizing the issue.
“I am not withdrawing because I feel in anyway incapable of performing this job, as I am incredibly proud of my professional accomplishments and gladly defend my abilities to the Opposition,” Matthews said in a statement released to the media.
“But the politicalization of this issue has gone too far. The Opposition will attempt to claim victory; but on the contrary, they have shamefully created this debate for political purposes. I would have hoped that if Ms. (Yvonne) Jones was sincere about wanting a qualified person for this position she would have made a legitimate attempt to find out about my abilities as opposed to spreading inaccuracies. I can only hope that in this — an election year — those who are qualified, energetic and passionate about making this province a better place will not be deterred from taking part in the political process by the unnecessary negativity that sometimes occurs.”
Complete statement:
“I was incredibly honoured to accept this nomination which was offered to me by Premier Dunderdale. I never would have accepted the offer if I was not fully confident in my capabilities and the level of experience that I could bring to the C-NLOPB. I spent seven years as the Director of Communications and as a senior advisor to Premier Williams. In that role, I was a part of a team that advised the Premier and Cabinet on major policy and negotiations including energy and other projects. Despite Opposition Party claims to the contrary, I was also a part of the team for several projects related to offshore oil and gas development including the Hebron offshore development, the renewed Atlantic Accord, Hibernia South extension, White Rose extension and the Lower Churchill project. The slanderous assertion by the Leader of the Opposition that I “padded” my resume is both insulting and false. I think it is important that people in positions of leadership question the qualifications of those appointed to these positions - we should all be accountable to the public; however, Ms. Jones choose to attack me as a “flunkie” without ever discussing with me directly my true qualifications and capabilities. I have spent my entire professional career working alongside thousands of competent and dedicated people, developing progressive social and economic policy for this province, including in the area of offshore oil and gas. I was blessed to be a part of a team in Premier Williams’ office that I truly believe made this incredible province a better place to live and I know that my experience could have contributed greatly to the C-NLOPB.
The work of the C-NLOPB is critically important to our offshore workers. I have been deeply troubled that those people have been used by the Leader of the Opposition as political fodder in this debate. On the morning of March 12 two years ago I was the first person in the Premier’s Office to take the phone call regarding the Cougar tragedy and I spent that day and the days afterwards working with the authorities on government’s behalf. I had friends and family who lost loved ones that day and I have been sincerely heartsick to know that in these past weeks they have been subjected to unnecessary fear mongering. To imply that my potential appointment could somehow compromise offshore safety is very disturbing and irresponsible. The depth to which the Opposition has taken this debate is a political agenda taken too far. For this reason I am withdrawing my name from the nomination process. To be clear, I am not withdrawing because I feel in anyway incapable of performing this job, as I am incredibly proud of my professional accomplishments and gladly defend my abilities to the Opposition. But the politicalization of this issue has gone too far. The Opposition will attempt to claim victory; but on the contrary, they have shamefully created this debate for political purposes. I would have hoped that if Ms. Jones was sincere about wanting a qualified person for this position she would have made a legitimate attempt to find out about my abilities as opposed to spreading inaccuracies. I can only hope that in this - an election year - those who are qualified, energetic and passionate about making this province a better place will not be deterred from taking part in the political process by the unnecessary negativity that sometimes occurs.”
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Funny thing about it Shannon is that both the Liberal and the NDP leaders will bring up that there should be more women in certain positions. And when you get a chance to get a person on a board that would contribute, the opposition objects. But Shannon we really know what you mean, saw lots of comments you have written before. Maybe you should check your leader's qualifications for her job!! Lets see how right Efford really was!