Burke given tough questions before meeting MUN presidency finalists

For what was supposed to have been an informal sales pitch to prospective heads of Newfoundland and Labrador's university, the first words they heard from the province's education minister must have sounded an awful lot like a job interview.

"As president, how would you see the university and the province working together?" is the first of a set of questions prepared for Education Minister Joan Burke in January, as she sat down with two candidates for the presidency of Memorial University.

The question list appears in documents obtained by a researcher for the Liberal Opposition using provincial access to information legislation.

However, Burke insisted in an interview on Wednesday that the questions were only talking points, and she didn't grill the candidates.

"It [was] a very free-flowing type of conversation, so it wasn't structured and scripted — strictly that this was it and there was nothing else said in that meeting."

Burke sparked an uproar this summer when she said she had effectively vetoed the two finalists for the presidency of the university, and instructed a selection committee to find new candidates.

After the admission, which drew criticism from academic groups across the country, Memorial's own board of regents — which called Burke's role interference and a violation of the legislation governing the institution — issued a statement saying that Premier Danny Williams had offered only to make an informal sales pitch on the province's assets to candidates.

Because Williams was not available, the job of speaking with the candidates was turned over to Burke.

Documents obtained by the Liberals, which have been provided to CBC News, include a string of e-mails that show how a chat turned into a much more formal meeting.

In the documents, officials discuss calls from Gil Dalton — the chair of MUN's board of regents — who appeared anxious that the meetings with Burke take place quickly.

As well, in a Jan. 18 e-mail sent to Rebecca Roome, the deputy minister of education, Dalton spelled out what was at stake.

"I'm concerned that, because much time has passed since the committee interviews that one may withdraw," Dalton wrote. "These people have other opportunities as well."

Interviews with the two of the finalists — a third withdrew from the process — were arranged for the next week.

In a note sent on Jan. 21 to Burke, Roome asked, "Do you want an informal conversation, or would you like some draft discussion points prepared?" Roome suggested that Burke should discuss the president's role with the department and "the role of the university in advancing the provincial agenda."

In her reply, Burke asked that Roome and another official attend the meetings, and that Roome prepare questions "around relationship to gov and Grenfell." That request referred to the government insistence that Memorial's Sir Wilfred Grenfell College campus in Corner Brook become autonomous, yet under a board of regents shared with Memorial.

Axel Meisen, the former president of Memorial, and John Crosbie, the former chancellor of the institution, had argued vigorously against the government's move.

Grenfell autonomy among policy questions

By the time Burke sat down to meet with the two candidates — one of whom was Eddy Campbell, who has been serving as acting president since Meisen resigned last year — she was armed with questions on the candidates' policy views and how they thought the university should work with the provincial government.

Several of the questions were about autonomy at Grenfell College, including identifying and overcoming "barriers" to achieving the government's goal.

Liberal Opposition MHA Kelvin Parsons said Wednesday those questions show the government's agenda.

"They like to control things to the point where if you're not on board with us, you're not in, and that's what happened here," he said.

In notes to another question, Burke was advised to ask about "government officials' presence on committees" with the university.

Candidates were also asked to identify "government strategies and initiatives [that] are of particular relevance to the university."

The documents contradict claims that Burke has made in the past that there was no correspondence with the university's board of regents on the selection process for Memorial's president.

Campbell withdrew from the process in August, saying he needed to focus on protecting Memorial's independence and principles of academic freedom.

In a statement issued last month, the board of regents identified Campbell as having been the search committee's preferred candidate. It said the board was shocked when Burke rejected both candidates as unsuitable.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers, among other groups that criticized Burke's actions, described the involvement in the selection process as unprecedented.