Several sources have confirmed that former government leader Piers McDonald, along with Northwestel Inc. vice-president Jason Bilsky, Justin Ferbey, executive director of Carcross/Tagish First Nations, and businesswoman Diane Lister were appointed to the Yukon Energy Corp. board this week.

The issue of filling the four vacancies has been question period fodder since Monday – punctuated by Opposition public utilities critic Gary McRobb's attempts to enter the telephone directory into the legislative record.

"I will send the premier (Dennis Fentie) over the new phone book. This could save us a fortune,” quipped McRobb, who slammed the government for spending $50,000 on a consultancy to come up with nominees.

On Monday morning, the Standing Committee on Appointments to Major Government Boards met and four names were vetted.

Of the three opposition MLAs on the seven-member committee – Liberal Don Inverarity, New Democrat Steve Cardiff and independent MLA Brad Cathers – two voted against the appointments, but were overruled by the Yukon Party's majority.

This morning, the Star learned Cardiff and Cathers were the dissenters. While Cardiff said he was troubled with the information leak, Cathers would neither confirm or deny the claim.

Both, however, said they are unsatisfied the government came up with just four names to fill four vacancies.

"I'm trying to figure out what the purpose of the committee is,” Cardiff said. "I felt like we were rubber-stamping a decision.”

Cathers went a step further by ridiculing the exercise.

"We have a situation where the premier is making mockery of it by bringing forward the same number of names as there are open positions,” Cathers said. "It's a real betrayal of the intent of this committee.”

Last August, Cathers resigned as Energy, Mines and Resources minister, accusing Fentie of betraying his cabinet and the public after a mass exodus of energy corporation directors, which created the recently filled vacancies.

Led by former government leader Willard Phelps, the directors resigned in June 2009 after Fentie tried to privatize the public utility in a back room deal with ATCO, the Calgary-based energy firm which owns Yukon Electrical Co. Ltd.

Fewer than three months later, Cathers would walk away from Fentie's government for the same reason.

The Liberals, whose board appointment committee member, Inverarity, supported the nominees, took issue with the government subcontracting work it was equipped to handle itself.

Cabinet did not return calls for comment on this story nor did McDonald, who led an NDP government from 1996 to 2000, when his party lost that year's election to Pat Duncan's Liberals.

McDonald lost his McIntyre-Takhini seat in the election which ended his 18-year career as an MLA.