N.L. won't appeal oil board appointment

The Newfoundland and Labrador government will not appeal a court decision backing up the appointment of Max Ruelokke as head of the agency governing the offshore oil industry.

Premier Danny Williams made the announcement Monday, saying that the odds of winning an appeal were not in the province's favour.

Ruelokke won a court order this summer confirming his appointment as chairman and chief executive officer of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.

Williams, who had wanted St. John's Mayor Andy Wells to be appointed to the top position, saidWells will instead fill a vacant seat on the CNLOPB.

The positionof chairman and CEOhas been vacant since 2004.

Williams said he wants to move on.

"I'm certainly prepared to work with Mr. Ruelokke. There's absolutely no doubt about that," Williams told reporters Monday.

Ruelokke himself also said he wants to put the dispute behind him.

"It's quite a relief that the struggle is over," he told CBC News. "It's history It won't come into play at all."

Filling the job has been contentious, as the formerLiberal government did not agree to naming Wells in the position. Asubsequent arbitration panel selected Ruelokke from those who had applied.

Since last fall, however, Williams and his government refused to sign off on the appointment, even though Ruelokke has received endorsements from the federal side.

Williams had described Ruelokke as having ties that were too close to the oil industry andsaid Wells a rebellious politician who had served as a commissioner of the provincial Public Utilities Board would stand up against oil companies.

Williams had until Monday to decide on an appeal of theAug. 7 court decision, in which Newfoundland Supreme Court Justice Raymond Halley described provincial government delays as "reprehensible."

Williams later attackedthe decision, suggesting that Halley"got up on the wrong side of the bed"before he wrote his ruling.

Opposition politicians and the president of the Canadian Bar Association said Williams was wrong to directhis criticism against a sitting judge.