Dear Editor,

Weeks have now passed since Prime Minister Christie said he would explain the Renward Wells waste treatment contract controversy when he was "ready". Yet the silence continues.

Still no response to the statement by Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller that Wells, parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Works, must have been "coerced" into signing a letter of intent for a $600 million waste-to-energy proposal for the dump, which Wells has no business signing as it was above his pay grade.

No word on the possible identity of the "seasoned men who have been around for a long time" who Miller said pushed Wells to sign the document, and who he claims should have known better.

Christie has still to explain why he reportedly asked for Wells' resignation over the matter, only for Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis to later say that he - Davis, minister of works and Wells' immediate boss in that capacity - has yet to decide if Wells did anything wrong.

Is this why Wells has yet to relinquish his post, even though he said at the start of the controversy that he was more than willing to resign if necessary? Was the prime minister essentially overruled? Is this matter conclusive proof that Davis holds the real power in this country? We simply do not know.

The time has come for the public to demand that Christie break his silence on this most serious of issues. He cannot be allowed to just ignore it and hope it all goes away.

We need to know, and we need to know now: who, if anyone, pushed Wells to sign the letter of intent; why they did so and what they stood to gain if anything; who in the government knew what was going on and what Wells' ultimate fate will be.

Most of all, the public needs to know who is really in charge of this country - the prime minister or Davis. Break your silence, Christie. Tell us what we have a right to know, and do it now.

- Hugh Blair

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