The PC Party says Consumer Advocate Dennis Browne is not who should be heading up the expert panel on the Churchill Falls MOU, but government and the NDP are defending the choice.

Government representatives, the NDP, and the two independents announced that Browne would be leading the oversight committee—a move which gained the NDP and independents’ support of the MOU in the legislature.

The PCs do not support the move and are still asking for the PUB to do the review.

Browne is a well-known Liberal, and spoke positively about the MOU in the week after it was released.

PC Leader Tony Wakeham says there is “nothing independent” about the choice, noting that Browne has “clearly laid out his position” on the MOU.

Wakeham says Browne is a known liberal who has a stance on the MOU, and was appointed by the premier. Browne will also be the one who appoints the other two people and he will then appoint the other two on the panel. “I don’t think that, to me, fits the definition of independence.”

Premier Andrew Furey and NDP leader Jim Dinn meanwhile defend the decision.