SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - After four years serving as chairman of the NWT Power Corporation board of directors, Lew Voytilla had his appointment revoked following a meeting with Premier Floyd Roland on Aug. 9.

Lew Voytilla: "Government has to make up its mind whether it wants the Power Corporation to be a business run by a board of directors or whether it wants to be a government department."

"I had a decision to make and I made it," said Roland, also the minister responsible for the Power Corporation, in a brief telephone interview Aug. 12. He declined to offer further detail.

Voytilla said he believed the decision wasn't "specifically" related to the proposed ATCO Group merger, but he did say there was a tension between his office and the minister's office.

"The government has to make up its mind whether it wants the Power Corporation to be a business run by a board of directors or whether it wants to be a government department," he said.

Gordon Stewart served as chairman of the board of directors for the Power Corporation from 2001 to 2004. He agreed that government corporations can be problematic when they try to be both a business and a government department. "That's always the problem that governments have when they own something. They want it to make money but they always then want it to serve the needs of the politicians," he said. "It's a very difficult thing because one day they want dividends and the next they want to serve the social needs of the people of the (NWT), and unfortunately it can't be doing both."

In terms of Voytilla's views of the proposed merger with the Calgary-based ATCO Group, first announced as an option by the government Jan. 29, 2009, he said he agrees with the conclusions reached in two reports - an electricity review called "Brighter Futures" released in 2009 and an NTPC review released this spring.

"Both reports concluded that there was no efficiency gains or value to be gained by privatization," he said. "They concluded that the Power Corporation should remain in the public hands and that's where the greatest value was to the public of the NWT. And I agreed with that conclusion."

Voytilla describes his four years as Chairman of the Board as "very interesting and very challenging."

"It was a time of a lot of controversy and a lot of progress," he said. "My experience with the Power Corporation was very positive. They're a good, dedicated staff providing a good service."

After a 30-year career with the GNWT, Voytilla retired and then accepted the board position with the Power Corporation. During that time, he also worked as a private consultant and will continue to do so.

Peter Allen, vice-chairman of the board of directors, will replace Voytilla as chairman until the board can find a permanent replacement. Allen wouldn't comment on whether he was interested in serving as chairman on a permanent basis.

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