P.E.I. government looking at ways to make appointment process to IRAC more transparent, premier says
CBC
The P.E.I. government is looking for a "new model" to appoint people to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission, along with other boards and agencies reporting to the province.
In response to a question from Opposition Leader Hal Perry about IRAC leadership during question period in the P.E.I. Legislature Tuesday, Premier Rob Lantz said a process is underway now to change how people are appointed.
"Will you take responsibility for the appointments and directions that your government has given IRAC and commit to an independent review to restore public confidence?" Perry asked.
"We’re always looking at ways to make sure the public has confidence in our public institutions, and I can say actually right now that we are looking at a new model for how appointments are made to IRAC," Lantz responded.
"That is something that’s underway right now and we’ll bring that forward at the appropriate time, but it’s an ongoing process of reviewing all of our public institutions to make sure that they’re serving the public well."
Right now the Lieutenant Governor makes appointments to IRAC based on recommendations from cabinet.
Critics of IRAC have questioned who gets appointed to the commission over the years.
A senior staff member in Premier Pat Binns's office was appointed the CEO of IRAC in the 2000s. Under the next premier, Robert Ghiz, several former Liberal Party candidates were given positions at the commission.
The current chair and CEO of IRAC, Pamela Williams, was the former chief of staff to Premier Dennis King. Kerri Carpenter, the vice-chair of IRAC, is a former PC committee member.
Both have contributed thousands of dollars to the Progressive Conservative Party over the years, according to yearly political party contributions data from Elections P.E.I.
Their appointments predate Lantz's time as premier.
Following question period Tuesday, Lantz told CBC News the candidate selection process for IRAC — and government boards and agencies that report to the province in general — should be more transparent.
"People would like to know how those appointments are made, I think they'd like to see some transparency and accountability about how it's made," Lantz said, adding government has done a "jurisdictional scan" to see what processes are like in other provinces.
"That's just a good, responsible, transparent way to conduct business."
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