BU board member quits over new travel rules

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This article was published 03/02/2021 (1421 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the wake of Premier Brian Pallister’s early-week announcement that order-in-council appointees to boards, agencies and commissions would no longer be allowed to travel outside authorized areas or risk losing their positions, at least one local appointee is leaving his role.

Brandon University Board of Governors member and board treasurer Kerry Auriat, who is also a columnist at The Brandon Sun, said in a phone interview on Wednesday that he submitted his resignation as of Tuesday this week after the premier’s announcement.

The premier’s announcement came after the Winnipeg Free Press reported last week that Wayne McWhirter, who was then the chair of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s board of directors, had been in Arizona as recently as last month.

Though Pallister, Health Minister Health Stefanson and the WRHA all said that McWhirter would not be punished for travelling abroad during COVID-19 health restrictions, the premier’s announcement Monday also contained a line saying that McWhirter had resigned after speaking with Pallister’s office.

The news drew the public’s ire, especially as it came after it was revealed that Progressive Conservative MLA James Teitsma and the province’s top civil servant, David McLaughlin, had both travelled outside of the province during code red restrictions.

In last Saturday’s edition of the Sun, Auriat penned an edition of his column defending McWhirter. He said that as an appointee and not an elected official setting or enforcing public health rules, the retired volunteer shouldn’t be subject to the same scrutiny.

After the new rule imposed Monday, Auriat said he frequently travels and didn’t want to bring “embarrassment or dishonour” to the university where he was once a student by being removed from his position if he travels out of the province.

“It was easier for me to say ‘I’ll step down’ than, in a month or two, somebody doing some kind of a study and finding out that maybe I have travelled,” he said. “Part of the problem is that even when you’ve followed all of the health standards, which we all try to do, that the rules seem to be changing and as a result of that, you can find that you did something that was perfectly acceptable and then it’s not.”

He believes that McWhirter was treated unfairly and he’s concerned about this kind of policy being put in place.

“To find volunteers is not easy at the best of times,” he said. “I was on a board at Brandon University where we had at least 10 order-in-council appointments. All volunteer work, they don’t get paid a cent. None of us did. But it’s a significant time commitment to whatever organization or board is that you’ve been appointed to. That’s a great thing and I believe in volunteerism, but when we start saying to volunteers that we’re going to hold you to a different standard than in fact we’re going to hold the head of the public service, I’m not entirely sure that’s fair.”

Brandon University told the Sun on Wednesday that no other members of its Board of Governors had resigned and Assiniboine Community College said that they had not received any resignations from their own board.

“It’s a tough job and it puts a lot of demand on volunteers to give up their time and their expertise and their energy,” a BU spokesperson told the Sun. “Certainly the pandemic hasn’t made that any easier. We wish Kerry all the best and we’ll work with government on any future appointments.”

However, another order-in-council appointee in Brandon is no longer serving in his position.

Lee Jebb is no longer chair of Prairie Mountain Health’s board of directors, according to the health region’s website.

The chair position is listed as vacant and Jebb has been removed from the board of director’s page. Jebb’s LinkedIn page lists his tenure with the board of directors as having ended in January.

Filling the role in an acting capacity is Assiniboine Community College president Mark Frison, who was initially appointed to the board in October 2018.

A former vice-president of operations with Cando Rail Services, Jebb is currently vice-president of venture capital and private equity firm Westcap Limited.

Prairie Mountain Health did not respond to requests for comment on Jebb’s departure and when the vacancy on their board might be filled.

Appointments and promotions to boards, agencies and commissions like the PMH board of directors are done via orders-in-council from the provincial government.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @ColinSlark