Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Bell.

Thank you. We know that all of the committee members signed off on the final report. If I look at, before coming to recommendation no. 4, the committee makes comment in 8.22, page 41:

This committee is of the view that the Premier should require the resignations of the principal secretary and the chief of staff. In the view of the committee, the gravity of the actions of these individuals requires a comparable response by the Premier which reflects the seriousness of these issues.

The Minister, after signing off on this report and agreeing with that statement, would still characterize these as no cause terminations?

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Handley.

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Bell.

Thank you. Yesterday, on page 1136 of Hansard, Mr. Handley, when responding to Mr. Dent, replies:

Mr. Chairman, they were within the contract. As I say, a standard contract provides for severance payment for one month per year of service with a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 24 months. As Mr. Voytilla has said, in this case, there was an amount negotiated because of the particular circumstances and in order to avoid legal liability. Thank you.

Can the Minister tell us what he meant and what he was referring to when he said, "in this case."

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, to get into any more detail on that would be getting into the detail on a specific contract so I cannot add any more to that or elaborate on it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Bell.

Thank you. Will he confirm that he did in fact say, "in this case" and we are left to assume that he meant in some particular case?

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, in that comment I was following up on a comment that Mr. Voytilla had made. Both of us were speaking in a more general sense than in a specific situation. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Bell.

Thank you. I am disappointed that the Minister could not be more specific in his answer and clarify what he himself had said yesterday. Can I ask the Minister whether either or both of the individuals, and I am speaking to the former chief of staff and the former principal secretary, were they ever requested by this government to resign?

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Handley.

I do not have that information, Mr. Chairman. I do not know.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Bell.

Mr. Chairman, is it possible that anybody in the room would have that information? I am wondering, if the Minister does not have that information in his head, I am wondering if some of the witnesses at the table may in fact have that information?

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, in the case of the chief of staff, as I said earlier, the position was done away with on October 29th, so after that the position did not exist anymore. In the case of Mr. Bayly, I think he felt that there was not any alternative other than what he did. In doing it, there was, in my view, no cause for his termination. Mr. Chairman, we should also keep in mind that both of these individuals, both positions had received letters of discipline and had already been disciplined for the actions that led to that recommendation 4. So, we do have the circumstance of double jeopardy here. In any case, there could not be a cause. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. I would suggest, Mr. Chairman, as indicated, there were letters of reprimand on file for the reasons that led to recommendation 4. The reprimands were much before much of this information had come to public light and I assume where made without the benefit of all of that knowledge. I think after the time of the reprimand letters there were further things that came to light that might suggest that these were not resignations without cause.

I am wondering if the Minister can indicate whether or not either of these individuals indicated to our government that they were leaving their employment unwillingly?

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, I was not involved in this so I will have to ask Ms. Snider to answer that question. Thank you.