Andy Wells calls government 'a pack of bullies' at Muskrat Falls inquiry

Andy Wells, the former head of the Public Utilities Board, said during his testimony at the Muskrat Falls inquiry Thursdaythat Nalcorwas not forthcoming and "expected to get an easy ride from the PUB."

"Outrageous. And I would go as far as to say I think it was intentional," Wells said.

During his testimony, Wells said he sent a letter in September 2011 asking for an extension for the board to review evidence, saying the board wouldn't meet the Dec. 31, 2011,deadline.

"We were basically spinning our wheels," he said.

Wells said he met with Robert Thompson, the former clerk of the executive council and formerdeputy minister of the Natural Resources department, and Thompson said he wasn't satisfied with questions the PUB's lawyers were asking Nalcor.

"I was deeply offended. It was extremely improper," he said.

A few months later, in February 2012, Wells said he told Charles Bown, also a former deputy minister of the Natural Resources department, that he would tell then-premier Kathy Dunderdale to call then-Nalcor CEO Ed Martin and tell him to shut the Muskrat Falls project down.

'This was a bully'

During his testimony, Wells alleged bullying by Dunderdale and others in the provincial government at the time.

"They were a pack of bullies," he said of the PUB's treatment by the government.

"They went after people at the board. If the jackbootsweren't marching in the streets, they were marching in the suites."

Wells described the government's tone as "nasty, thuggish" and saidDunderdale's tone was "menacing, threatening."

"This was an angry person. This was a bully," he said of the former premier.

Wells has criticized project

An outspoken critic of the project, Wells ran the PUB from 2008 to 2017.

Wells, who was also once mayor of St. John's, spoke out against the questioning of Muskrat Falls critics David Vardy and Ron Penney earlier in the inquiry as attempts at character assassination.

The inquiry into the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric megaproject, which has run billions of dollars over budget, is ongoing in St. John's.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador