Deputy Premier Siobhan Coady was in the position of defending the appointment of senior civil servant Charles Bown as CEO of the Multi-Materials Stewardship Board in the House of Assembly today.

Bown was roundly criticized by Commissioner Justice LeBlanc at the Muskrat Falls Inquiry for holding back information on cost prior to sanctioning of the project.

Coady was questioned on the appointment by PC Opposition Leader Ches Crosbie.

She told the House that Bown was hired in 1987 by PC Premier Brian Peckford rising to the executive level under PC Premier Danny Williams and became deputy minister under Premier Kathy Dunderdale – also a Tory leader.

She says they were bound by Bown’s existing contract and weighed all the options available to them.