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This article was published 9/6/2016 (1563 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier Brian Pallister is defending the appointment of a former provincial Progressive Conservative party president to a key staff position in government.

Winnipeg lawyer Michael Richards will earn $163,882 per year in the role of deputy secretary to cabinet in charge of "outcomes and results."

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Michael Richards is a former president of the Manitoba PC party.

In an interview, Pallister said Richards is "very well respected and well liked," works well with others, and is adept at working through complex issues.

His appointment takes effect on Monday.

Richards will be tasked with helping to find efficiencies in government, working in tandem with the premier and clerk of the executive council, Donna Miller, the province’s top civil servant.

Pallister said the province faces a "monumental challenge" in finding greater efficiencies throughout government to tackle a huge budget deficit.

"I’d like to undertake these things. This is right up my alley. This is the stuff I like to do, but I don’t have the time to do it effectively or well," the premier said.

Richards, who acted as a PC party spokesman during the recent provincial election, will help the government receive "better value" on infrastructure investments and advise on how the province can work more effectively with municipal governments, the premier said.

He will also act as an adviser to the premier’s enterprise team, a group of business leaders that will work with government to boost jobs and economic growth. The team has yet to be established.

In a statement, the Opposition NDP said it is concerned that the PCs are placing a partisan person in the clerk of the executive council’s office.

"The clerk has a duty to remain non-partisan and we are concerned the Pallister government is trying to insert their ideology into this office," the NDP said.

Pallister said Richards is "tremendously capable," and should not be ruled out for the job because of his political party affiliation.

"We can’t rule out everybody who supported us or we’d be ruling out half the people in the province," he cracked.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca