The naming of former deputy Finance minister Bruce McLennan as chair of the Yukon Utilities Board is a six-month interim appointment, according to Gordon Steele, principal secretary to Premier Dennis Fentie.

McLennan told the Star earlier this week he was informed his appointment had been at the behest of the all-party Standing Committee on Appointments to Major Government Boards and Committees. Later, he revised his statement.

"I was told the premier consulted with (Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell and NDP house leader Steve Cardiff),” McLennan said. "I don't know if it went through the actual committee process, per se.”

Steele confirmed Mitchell and Cardiff were in Fentie's office on Jan. 28 to be informed of McLennan's appointment, that it was to be on an interim basis, and at a later date the standing committee could meet and recommend a permanent chair.

"It will go through that process, and in fairness to Mr. McLennan, he was probably not aware the standing committee had not met,” Steele said.

"There will be a normal process; Mr. McLennan may submit his résumé to it.”

However, the Liberals issued a press release Tuesday afternoon accusing Fentie of acting "unilaterally” to appoint McLennan.

"A new chair has already been appointed by the premier and yet the committee hasn't even discussed the vacancy,” Liberal committee member Don Inverarity is quoted as saying. "This is just another case of Premier Fentie dictating how things have to happen.”

The chair position has been vacant since December, Inverarity noted, allowing "plenty of time to involve the committee.”

The release failed to mention Mitchell's and Cardiff's meeting with Fentie, and that the trio appeared to be in agreement with the decision, according to Steele, who was also present at the Jan. 28 meeting.

"I'm flabbergasted by this (Liberal) reaction because the premier and I had a good long discussion with Mitchell and Cardiff, and there appeared to be consensus,” Steele said. "That was my view; we gave them a heads-up and there didn't seem to be any problem with it.

"Don Inverarity wasn't even at the meeting .... We thought this was a proper way to (fill the vacancy) because of the time. After Christmas, it's difficult to get people together,” added Steele.

Former chair Wendy Shanks quit the utilities board with more than a year remaining in her planned tenure.

That, combined with the lack of interest among remaining board directors to assume the role, the government was in a pinch to continue with Mayo B hydro expansion hearings, Steele said.

From Cardiff's perspective, he thinks Shanks' resignation caught the government off-guard, leaving it scrambling to fill her position, and lack of interest locally forced the search to venture Outside.

"They did what they had to do; unfortunately they didn't seem well prepared, I believe. They didn't have someone local that they could go to,” Cardiff told the Star Tuesday afternoon.

"It would've been prudent to have names in the bank of people they could approach, even if it was on an interim basis.

"It would've been better to have gone through the standing committee, but we ended up circumventing that. I understand there are time constraints,” Cardiff added.

McLennan worked for more than 20 years with the Yukon government, holding down key roles as deputy minister of Education, Health and Finance.

Following his retirement in 2007, McLennan moved to B.C., and now resides in Nanoose Bay.