The New Brunswick government says it may be able to explain why Dr. Eilish Cleary was fired from her position as chief medical officer of health, if Cleary allows that to happen.
“The government needs to clear the air, that’s all there is to it,” said Green Party Leader David Coon. “They need to come clean and clear the air about what’s going on.”
Questions about Cleary’s dismissal are not going away, and the answers from government are not changing. For the third straight day, question period in the New Brunswick legislature began on the topic.
“This is a human resources issue,” said Liberal MLA Serge Rousselle, the province’s attorney general.
“Well it seems like everything is an HR issue with this government,” said Kris Austin, the People’s Alliance Leader.
The Liberal government has said that if Cleary gave authorization for more information to be released, they may be able to talk about it. Rousselle today reiterated that to reporters.
The government will not say whether they have contacted Cleary.
“They may be trying to bait her and she’s looking at her options now and her side is that she was let go without cause,” Austin said.
Rousselle also would not confirm whether Cleary was given a reason for her dismissal.
The Liberals say the opposition would immediately call for government resignations if they were to break confidentiality in this case.
“We’d have to look at that situation and decide from there what the outcome would be,” said interim Progressive Conservative Leader Bruce Fitch.
Cleary has said she and her lawyer are discussing what her next steps will be.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Nick Moore
