The long-time head of the Newfoundland Liquor Corporation, who was sacked on Friday, is describing "unheard of" government interference and says he was "shocked" to be replaced by a woman he let go from the NLC in December.

"To have a terminated executive put back into my place, that just tells you there's all kinds of governance issues," Steve Winter told CBC News.

"Either that, or there's an overall plan in the first place to do it."

I'm a bit resentful from the perspective of how this all came about. - Steve Winter

Winter spoke out Monday after the provincial government announced that Sharon Sparkes, former chief financial officer on his team, was being promoted to the top job on an interim basis and he was out the door.

"To say that I'm relieved not to be there … maybe," Winter said.

"I don't know that angry is the right word. I guess I'm a bit resentful from the perspective of how this all came about."

Newfoundland and Labrador Finance Minister Tom Osborne says the woman now in charge of the liquor corporation is ready to reduce jobs through attrition. (Sherry Vivian/CBC)

According to Finance Minister Tom Osborne, Friday's shakeup was prompted, in part, by government's desire to put someone at the helm who would cut costs, and was comfortable with the corporation's role in regulating marijuana sales.

"We have confidence of Ms. Sparkes's ability to lead the organization through that transition and do it smoothly," Osborne told the St. John's Morning Show.

"We also need to have somebody in place who has the organizational knowledge and who understands government's vision of finding cost savings and putting in an attrition model that works."

Sparkes will be paid $190,000 a year, $60,000 less than Winter was paid, said Osborne, and will not collect the severance package from her December dismissal.

Deteriorating morale

Winter said he was the one who let Sparkes go, and that he did so because the two had not been getting along for some time.

"The morale because of that relationship basically was deteriorating and very difficult to have an environment where the CEO and the CFO are not functioning the way they should," he said.

The NLC board didn't have to approve his decision, he said, but they were "very much aware" of the situation and "there was no opposition to that plan."

"I was paid to run the business, so I made the call and that's what happened."

Steve Winter was the CEO of the NLC for 14 years until a government release sent Friday afternoon announced he had been dismissed. (CBC )

Winter said he had no intention of replacing Sparkes — he felt the duties of the CFO could be shared by the remaining executive team, saving the liquor corporation about $200,000 a year.

But government stepped in, he said, and placed former Liberal candidate Lynn Sullivan in the CFO role. Sullivan was defeated in St. John's Centre in the 2015 election, losing to the NDP.

Osborne said Sullivan's appointment is not political, saying she had been seconded from the province's legal aid commission.

"I was adamantly opposed to bringing in a CFO," Winter said, calling the move one example of government interference that, to him, is "just unheard of."

The NLC is poised to be key regulator in the sale and distribution of marijuana when it becomes legal in July. (CBC)

As far as Osborne's claims that government was acting with an eye to cutting costs, Winter said if you add up his severance, Sharpe's salary and the salary of the reinstated CFO position, no money has been saved.

"I suspect there's more money spent," he said.

Cannabis plan difficult to manage

Winter's dismissal comes as the Newfoundland Liquor Corporation is poised to be key regulator in the sale and distribution of marijuana when it becomes legal in July.

It's going to be very difficult to run that corporation and deliver the cannabis mandate that's necessary. - Steve Winter

Osborne told the St. John's Morning Show that Winter was "uncomfortable" with that and did not communicate changes to the corporation's board of directors.

"I don't say that I wasn't on board. We were kind of dragged into it," he said. "The whole timeline with cannabis is my issue. It was so short that I think it's going to be very difficult to run that corporation and deliver the cannabis mandate that's necessary."

'Lots of concerns': Opposition leader

Progressive Conservative leader Paul Davis said he has "lots of concerns" about what has happened.

"I knew all was not well at the NLC," he said.

Davis said Osborne and the government are interfering in the operation of the liquor corporation, which "flies in the face" of what government has said about the importance of allowing its agencies and organizations to find their own ways to cut costs.

PC leader Paul Davis said government is interfering in the workings of the liquor corporation. (Eddy Kennedy/CBC)

"It's government now directing agencies, boards and commissions when, for a very long time, they have said they're not going to," he said. "So the message is very inconsistent."

He also questioned the appointment of a failed Liberal candidate and the lack of clarity around the dismissal of Sparkes from her previous position.

"There's so many unanswered questions here," he added.

As for the NLC's bottom line, annual dividends nearly doubled over Winter's 14 year term as CEO, jumping from $93 million in 2003 to $183 million last year.