Creative Saskatchewan has fired its CEO Greg Magirescu.

The Crown arts agency has had two permanent chief executive officers since its inception in 2013, and it's terminated both of them. It dismissed J.P. Ellson in 2015, and now Magirescu.

Both times, the board has said there was no particular reason.

You look at hockey coaches, how long do they last? - Cory Furman, chair of Creative Saskatchewan board

"I don't think it's abnormal, no," board chairman Cory Furman said.

"It's dependent upon the state of evolution and development of the organization. Skillsets, leadership qualities change ...You look at hockey coaches, how long do they last? I don't think it's abnormal at all that there's turnover when the needs of the organization evolve."

Grant controversy "not a factor"

He said Magirescu, who was hired in June 2016, had developed and executed a three-year strategic plan and the board was ready to make a change.

"It's not with cause," Furman told CBC News from his law firm office on Monday.

He said a recent controversy over five Creative Saskatchewan grants given to businesswoman Heather Abbey and her e-commerce company Indig Inc. was not the reason for Magirescu's dismissal.

Abbey received more than $160,000 total in taxpayer's money. In September, she told CBC News that she didn't use much of the money as it was intended. Creative Saskatchewan is now auditing all of her projects.

Magirescu said he was instructed by the board to not speak to the media about his dismissal, and declined to comment.

Creative Saskatchewan board chairman Cory Furman says CEOs, like hockey coaches, must change as an organization changes. (Kirk Fraser/CBC )

The arts funding agency was formed in 2013 after the provincial government cut its film employment tax credit. It gives grant money to filmmakers, musicians, designers and others in the creative and cultural industries.

CBC News reported on the fallout from a July trade mission to Japan for Indigenous artists, with delegates saying they were disappointed by a poorly organized trip and confused by where Creative Saskatchewan grant money was spent.

Further investigation revealed that Heather Abbey had left unpaid bills in Tokyo — including $15,000 in cancellation and no-show fees at a Tokyo hotel — and that only three of 15 participants who went on the trip are based in Saskatchewan, as required by the grant.

Abbey received roughly $25,000 in 2018 in order to set up a retail space for Indigenous artists in Saskatoon. She told CBC News that she hasn't done it.

"That didn't factor into this decision at all," Furman said. "There was no single event that was determining factor in the board's decision. It's just been determined that the board wants to make a change. So there's no single thing that was persuasive in the decision, or that I can point out for you."

J.P. Ellson served as the head of Creative Saskatchewan from January 2014 to December 2015. (CBC)

Creative Saskatchewan's first CEO, J.P. Ellson, was hired in January 2014 and terminated two years later in December 2015. Again, the board said it was "without cause."

Earlier that year, Ellson was embroiled in controversy over a trip to Hollywood for Oscar week during a government freeze on non-essential travel. Ellson defended the $3,660 trip as essential to marketing Saskatchewan arts products.

An interim CEO Susan Gorge was appointed until Magirescu took over the position in June 2016.

"No political involvement"

In response to Magirescu's dismissal, the Minister of Parks, Culture and Sport, Gene Makowsky, said "there was no political involvement" in the decision.

An order-in-council that first appointed Magirescu set his annual salary at $160,000.

Makowsky expects Magirescu to collect severance, as he noted that is generally the case "anytime someone is dismissed without cause." Both Makowsky and Furman said they didn't know the severance package details.

As for the turnover of CEOs, Makowsky says he's "confident" in the future of Creative Saskatchewan.

Two employees, Erin Dean, director of programs, and Craig Lederhouse, director of communications, will share management duties for the next six months.