Premier John Hogan says it wasn’t government’s place to announce that a member of the Churchill River expert oversight panel had resigned back in May.

Michael Wilson went public two weeks ago with his decision to resign based on concerns with the new MOU and the panel’s ability to do anything about them.

The panel is supposed to provide quarterly updates on its “critical oversight” of the ongoing negotiations with Hydro-Quebec.

But Wilson quietly jumped ship in May, four months ago, replaced with Guy Holburn, who had been a consultant for the panel.

Holburn’s appointment was revealed in a June news release, but there was no mention of Wilson or that he was being replaced.

Yesterday, Hogan told reporters it was on Wilson to announce his departure, suggesting media and others missed the boat on the news.

“We did announce that Mr. Holburn was replacing him,” says Hogan. “Now that didn’t get picked up necessarily in the media, but we were certainly open and transparent about that.”

Meanwhile, Hogan says he has since spoken with the other members of the panel who have expressed no concerns to him about the negotiations thus far.

“There’s no secrets here on this project,” said Hogan. “There’s no reason to hide anything.”