Several key agriculture employees were among about 70 Saskatchewan civil servants fired late last month by the Saskatchewan Party government.
Hal Cushon, associate deputy minister with 29 years in the provincial civil service, assistant deputy minister Jacquie Gibney and Jack Zepp, director of strategic operations in the deputy minister’s office, were all dismissed without cause.
Only new deputy minister Alanna Koch and several secretaries are currently in the office.
The previous deputy, Harvey Brooks, was let go shortly after the election.
Deputy premier Ken Krawetz cited either partisan ties to the former NDP administration or incompetence when he confirmed the dismissals Jan. 24. He declined to talk about individual circumstances.
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Cushon said to be considered partisan or incompetent after so many years is difficult.
“I guess I’ve always been a professional civil servant,” he said in an interview. “My ratings were always positive.”
Cushon began working for the province in 1979, during the Allan Blakeney NDP administration, after eight years with the federal government. He then stayed on through the Conservative government of Grant Devine and the NDP governments of Roy Romanow and Lorne Calvert.
He became director of the agriculture department’s policy branch in 1993 and was named associate deputy minister in 2001.
“You just stop racking your brains to figure it out,” he said of his dismissal.
Cushon, who turns 60 this year, said he is negotiating a settlement. Agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud declined to comment.
