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Olsen called the organization’s early missteps “distractions.”

“I knew that there would be a lot of scrutiny.” he said. “What I would encourage people to do is to look at the work that we do. You look at the website, and the stories that we are producing … I would say the people who are working for me are doing fabulous work.”

Give CEC time to scale up, Olsen said

Last month, the Canadian Association of Journalists called on CEC writers to cease using the word “reporter” to describe their role when interviewing people for website articles about Alberta energy.

“When you pretend that a PR (public relations) firm is journalism, that’s positively Orwellian,” association president Karyn Pugliese said last month.

Olsen said Tuesday he has now advised CEC authors to call identify themselves as “writers” or “content producers.”

The writers “100 per cent” explain what the CEC is when they contact sources for interviews, he said.

“I’m confident that people are aware of who it is they’re talking to,” he said.

Earlier this week, the Opposition NDP called on the government to shut down the war room and redirect its $30-million annual budget to public programs and services.

The premier’s press secretary also told the Calgary Herald this week the CEC’s launch hadn’t gone as smoothly as government had hoped.

The corporation is governed by a board of three cabinet ministers — Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer, Energy Minister Sonya Savage and Environment and Parks Minister Jason Nixon. Olsen hasn’t yet heard from them about the centre’s opening muddles, he said.