Edmonton Journal has reported:

The Alberta Energy Regulator has rehired Mark Taylor, a former executive vice-president whose employment was terminated in 2019 amid fallout from the ICORE scandal. Taylor has returned as the regulator’s board secretariat director, a move announced internally on Sept. 9 by board chair Duncan Au and CEO Rob Morgan.

Taylor was one of three executive vice-presidents dismissed after reports by the auditor general, ethics commissioner and public interest commissioner identified financial mismanagement and conflicts of interest at the AER. The reports placed primary blame on then-CEO Jim Ellis, who led the creation of the International Centre of Regulatory Excellence, a non-profit corporation intended to sell Alberta’s regulatory expertise to other countries.

ICORE was outside the AER’s mandate and cost the agency millions of dollars in lost funds. Ellis resigned as CEO in late 2018. In response to the reports, the regulator removed executives, including Taylor, and dissolved and replaced its board of directors.

In the internal message announcing Taylor’s return, Au and Morgan wrote: “Mark’s combination of industry, regulatory, and government experience will be invaluable to the success of the board secretariat,”

The AER told Postmedia it could not comment publicly on staffing or employee matters because of privacy legislation. The office of Energy Minister Brian Jean said the regulator is responsible for its own staffing decisions.

“Alberta’s government has taken significant steps to strengthen governance of the AER and enhance its reputation as a global leader in regulating energy and mineral development,” the minister’s office said. “We are confident that they have processes in place to do appropriate due diligence on hiring.”