ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Gary Norris will get another term as the province’s top bureaucrat.
Premier Andrew Furey announced on Tuesday that Norris would serve as clerk of the executive council, a role he held under former premier Danny Williams until he resigned the position in 2011.
Norris most recently served as executive vice-president of Alderon Iron Ore Co.
Furey also served on the executive board of the mining company until April, when the company imploded. The company could not repay a $14-million loan, so operations folded. The company had been working on the Kami mining project, a proposed open-pit iron ore mine about 10 kilometres west of Labrador City.
Norris has over 30 years of experience in the provincial government, working as deputy minister of intergovernmental affairs and assistant deputy minister of environment prior to his role as clerk of the executive council in the Williams administration.
Former clerk of the executive council Elizabeth Day resigned the position suddenly in mid-July, roughly two weeks before the conclusion of the Liberal leadership race that saw Furey become premier. The Premier’s Office has declined to comment on Day’s departure, citing privacy concerns.
Krista Quinlan had served as acting clerk of the executive council and will return to her post as deputy clerk, with Norris’s appointment.
Norris joins lawyer Melissa Royle Critch, and former journalists Fred Hutton and Meghan McCabe, as new faces in the executive of government since Furey took office. Dwight Ball’s former adviser, Peter Miles, was named Furey’s chief of staff.
Twitter: @DavidMaherNL
