Labour unions and Opposition politicians who have long criticized the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) for being overly cozy with the oil industry are again pointing fingers. The latest ruckus follows a round of what critics allege is a game of musical patronage chairs.

First came the appointment of two prominent conservatives to the offshore regulatory board in late January, with Scott Tessier taking over the vacant position of chair and Ed Williams as a board member. Tessier, who most recently worked for Chevron Canada, had previously been chief of staff to former Conservative federal cabinet minister Loyola Hearn.

Appointments to the six-person board are jointly made by the federal and provincial governments, but disagreements in recent years between the federal Conservatives and their Newfoundland and Labrador counterparts have led to delays in filling vacancies.

Williams, a St. John’s businessman with close ties to the oil industry, is the brother of former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Danny Williams and has been a key advisor to current premier Kathy Dunderdale since she took over the provincial Progressive Conservatives two years ago. Williams is filling a position that was initially occupied in 2010 by Elizabeth Matthews, formerly a communications director to his brother Danny; an avalanche of criticism over her posting led to it being rescinded.

In the wake of these latest appointments, Prime Minister Stephen Harper elevated the former deputy chair of the C-NLOPB, David Wells, to the Senate, who took over the post following the mandatory retirement of Ethel Cochrane. Like Tessier, Wells’s resumé includes employment in Hearn’s office.

The C-NLOPB has long been used as a watering hole for political appointees, but public acceptance of that practice has been less than overwhelming following the crash of a helicopter servicing offshore oil installations in 2009, killing 17 of 18 passengers and crew. The accident was caused by a catastrophic oil leak from the main gearbox and exacerbated by failure of the helicopter to maintain flight while “running dry.”

Critics of the C-NLOPB say the board has a built-in conflict of interest because it is responsible for promoting the oil industry through land leases while also overseeing offshore safety and environmental protection. Following the helicopter crash, a report by retired judge Robert Wells recommended removing safety from the purview of the C-NLOPB and placing it in the hands of a new independent body. So far, neither the feds nor the province has followed through.

The latest additions to the C-NLOPB are not providing comfort to labour leaders looking for movement on the issue.

One decision the C-NLOPB soon will rule on is whether to allow the resumption of night flights by the Sikorsky helicopters that transport workers to and from the production facilities that lie 250 kilometres east of St. John’s. Night flights were banned after the 2009 crash, but offshore operators have been lobbying the board to rescind that order. Their request was supported in a report submitted in October that recommended the resumption of night flights.

The expansion of oil and gas exploration will only add fuel to the debate.

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