Former Indigenous relations minister rejects Treasury Board appointment, now gov't says it was an error

After Manitoba's former Indigenous and northern relations minister rejected an appointment to an important committee, officials from the premier's office are blaming the whole saga on an administrative error.

Eileen Clarke was appointed to province's Treasury Board ina cabinet order issued July 15amove that came as asurprise toClarke who said no one ever asked her about it and she was rejecting the appointment.

"This again speaks to my concerns of lack of communications and decisions," Eileen Clarke said in an email to CBC News Wednesday morning.

"I wasn't asked and no, I will not be accepting the appointment,"

After issuing a brief statement to CBC News on Tuesday, saying roles in cabinet are "frequently refreshed," it revised its statement late Wednesday afternoon.

"Due to an administrative error, an outdated draft group of orders in council regarding cabinet committee memberships was inadvertently posted," wrote Olivia Billson, the premier's spokesperson in a prepared statement.

Billson said they were in the process of addressing this Tuesdayand they informed Clarke about it.

This seems to contradict what Clarke said earlier Wednesday. Clarkesaidshe was contacted by the secretary of the Treasury Board that day, andthey congratulated her and requested a meeting.

Clarke, the MLA for Agassiz, officially stepped down from her cabinet position on July9 two days after comments from Premier Brian Pallisterthat suggested the colonization of Canada was done with good intentions.

She later told CBC that the premier'scomments "were a factor" in her resignation from cabinet, without going into specifics.

When asked earlier this week about Clarke'sappointment to Treasury Board, Pallister's director of media relationsrefused to divulge any information,issuing only a brief statement.

"The membership of cabinet committees is refreshed on a regular basis to align with various government priorities and to ensure a diversity of experience and reasonable balance of workload amongst members," Blake Robert said in a prepared statement on Tuesday.

At the time, Clarke declined to comment and would not say whethershe was accepting the appointment.

"I was not even aware of this so waited till yesterdaywhen [orders in council]usually become public," she said in the Wednesday email.

Treasury Board is a committee made up of the finance minister, appointed cabinet ministers andbackbench MLAs. It is the main financial oversight committee for the provincial government.

Clarke was previously appointed to Treasury Board in August 2017 and served for a year before she was shuffled out.

Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinewlearned about the government's "administrative error"during a scrum with reporters.

"That look of disbelief I just gave the camera was my reaction," Kinew said on Wednesday

"We've got a drought, we've got wildfires, we got a pandemic, we got an reopening [of the economy], we've gotthe historic challenge of reconciliationbefore us as Manitobans and the PC government is still trying to walk back or make excuses for a botched appointment to one of their cabinet committees."

Clarke'sreplacement in the Indigenous and northern affairs portfolio, Alan Lagimodiere, added to the controversy last week when he told reportersat his very first press conference that those who ran residential schools believed "they were doing the right thing."

Clarke's official July 15 statementannouncing her resignation from cabinet never mentioned Pallister by name, but said she had heard from people across the province"disappointed with the representation they feel they are not getting."

"I have spoken up on several issues but I feel my voice and other voices were not heard in cabinet," thestatement said.

Following her resignation, several Indigenous leaders came out criticizing Pallister and calling onhim to resign.

On Sunday,The Canadian Pressreportedthat two Indigenous men quit their government-appointed positions on Manitoba economic development boards in protest of the comments made by Pallister and Lagimodiere.

Former deputy ministerJamie Wilson, a member of Opaskwayak Cree Nation, stepped down as board chair of the Communities Economic Development Fund.

And Darrell Brown, a Cree entrepreneur, stepped down from theboard of directors of the Rural Manitoba Economic Development Corporation, which provides support to businesses and communities in southern Manitoba.

Some of Pallister's MLAs have chosen to make clear their opposition to residential schoolswhile seemingly criticizing their boss.

Families Minister Rochelle Squires said she is "deeply troubled by recent events and comments" and Conservation and Climate Minister Sarah Guillemardwrote on Twittershe could not "stand behind words that add hurt to traumatized people."

Meanwhile, Robert, who is also the director ofissues management forgovernment, served notice this week that he is leaving for a new job at the STARS air ambulance service.