Hogan defends handling of now-rescinded cash payment policy for departing ministers
N.L. premier says initial decision to bring in new allowance was a 'mistake'
Premier John Hogan made a funding announcement for a new community centre on Thursday morning, but all the questions he faced afterwards were about cash payments of a different kind.
"The right decision for me as leader, when I found out about it, was to rescind the policy and move forward from there," Hogan said.
"That was the right decision and that's the decision I stand by."
Last Friday, CBC News revealed that the provincial cabinet had quietly approved a new cash benefit for departing ministers — a transitional allowance of between $12,000 and $48,000, on their way out the door.
That same day, Hogan convened a cabinet meeting, and they decided to axe the policy, which had quietly come into effect April 1.
In a Facebook post announcing the cancellation of the benefit, Hogan stressed that he "acted quickly."
That reversal came more than three weeks after CBC News first asked the premier's office about the new policy, back on June 25.
His officials may have been looped in, but Hogan said he wasn't.
"That's when I first became aware of it, when the media story came out," the premier said.
"Obviously, my office was apparently contacted. Took a little bit of time for them to dig into it and figure out exactly what the issue was with the transitional allowance, and for me to understand what the change was."
He said immediately after the story came out, it was an "easy decision" to convene cabinet and discuss the matter — which led to the swift decision to rescind the policy.
Hogan reiterated that he wasn't in cabinet when the original policy decision was made, and was not involved in approving it.
The premier was flanked by two of his current cabinet colleagues at Thursday's funding announcement.
Housing Minister John Abbott told reporters that he also wasn't in cabinet when the initial policy decision got the green light.
Hogan and Abbott took leave from their portfolios while running for the provincial Liberal leadership.
Education Minister Bernard Davis was in cabinet, but said he can't speak to what happens in those meetings, because of cabinet confidence and cabinet solidarity.
"I'm fully supportive, like all my colleagues, of the decision that we've made as a group to rescind that policy," Davis said.
When CBC News asked Davis whether he was supportive of the original decision to implement the policy in the first place, the premier jumped in.
"I just want to be clear. There's questions about cabinet. There is cabinet confidence and cabinet solidarity. There's a reason for that in our parliamentary system and we've been following that system for a number of years," Hogan said.
"The important point is that the decision was recognized, after the fact, that it was the wrong decision and cabinet then was convened by me to make sure that decision was rescinded. It was a mistake to make that, I would suggest, in the first place, and that's why cabinet on the second go-around made a decision to rescind that initial change."
According to the premier's office, one already-retired minister — Andrew Parsons — received the now-rescinded allowance, as he left while the policy was in place.
Former premier Andrew Furey was eligible, but has not received the transitional allowance and has asked that he not receive it.
- One departed minister received now-cancelled cabinet cash allowance, premier's office says
- Hogan says new cash benefit for departing ministers axed, in wake of CBC report
Six other ministers have indicated their plans to retire when the provincial election is held in the coming months. They would have qualified for payouts up to tens of thousands of dollars had the policy not been rescinded.
The existence of the new transitional allowance — which had not been publicly disclosed until CBC News revealed it last week — sparked immediate controversy.
Within hours, the premier announced that cabinet had met and decided to pull the plug.
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