"You're Fired!": BC Liberals Axe the Best Public Servant BC has had in years

Definitely can't say it's a surprise that Christy Clark's BC Liberal government has axed John Doyle, BC's Auditor-general, the best public servant BC has had for the last 5 years. The kid glove way the BC public service does their dirty work is not to re-appoint people who are thorns in their side.

Chalk it up to one more nail in the BC Liberals coffin.

BC Auditor-General not reappointed
VANCOUVER/CKNW (AM980), 1/5/2013.

If you want to be BC auditor-general, now's your chance.

An ad is out, asking for prospective replacements for John Doyle.

Doyle has not been reappointed.

MLA John Les sits on a special committee that appoints an auditor-general.

He says all decisions on that committee have to be unanimous -- and says there hasn't been unanimity in terms of keeping Doyle in that position.

Speaking with CKNW's Sean Leslie, Les was asked whether the Government wants to get rid of Doyle.

"No, it's normal for there to be some tension between an auditor general and the government of the day, that's not unusual at all -- if you look at the federal level for example where Shiela Fraser, when she was the auditor general, she was pretty tough on the federal government as well, and you know, John Doyle has been the same in British Columbia, so that is in itself, not at all unusual."

Doyle's term is up in October.

Last summer, he criticized the Legislature's accounting practices.

He has also been working for answers in the BC Rail case -- about the covering of legal fees for Dave Basi and Bob Virk.

The committee that appoints an auditor-general is made up of both Liberals and New Democrats.

Les didn't say who wanted Doyle to stay and who wanted him to go.

Meanwhile, NDP MLA Shane Simpson says his party supported the reappointment of Doyle.

He says the decision to not keep Doyle is not in the public interest, and is not justified.

"There's a long, long list of issues where Mr. Doyle as the auditor-general has brought out information through his reports that have demonstrated problems with government procedures and government controls.  That's what the auditor-general should be doing, he was doing a good job, the Liberals have decided with no justification that they're going to get rid of him."

Simpson calls Doyle one of the most effective watchdogs of the public interest that BC has seen in many years.

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John Doyle appears set to be replaced as government watchdog

By Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun, January 5, 2013.

 

VICTORIA – John Doyle, the tough Auditor-general who has taken the B.C. Liberal government to task on everything from access to documents related to the Basi-Virk political corruption case to B.C. Hydro’s highly controversial use of deferral accounts, appears to have been denied in his bid for a second term.

On Saturday, a legislative committee charged with deciding if Doyle’s five-year term should be renewed, ran a series of newspaper advertisements seeking a new candidate for the job, a clear sign they have decided to find a new Auditor-general for B.C.

Members of the five-person bipartisan committee are bound to secrecy, but New Democratic Party caucus chair Shane Simpson pointed the finger directly at the B.C. Liberals.

“We’re very disappointed. We think it was petty and vindictive on the part of the Liberals,” he said in an interview, adding he strongly believes it was the committee’s Liberal members who were responsible for the decision.

“I believe the Liberals are the ones who killed his reappointment and you’re dealing with somebody here who has a very, very strong set of credentials, did an excellent job as a watchdog for the people of British Columbia and did some excellent work in terms of the public interest. There’s just no justification I can see here in terms of his work for why he wasn’t reappointed.”

“I think he’s been a staunch critic of problems in the government and quite honestly had he been reappointed and should we win the election in May I would expect him to be just as staunch a critic of the NDP, I don’t think there’s much question about that,” he said.

Doyle has been a strong critic of the B.C. Liberal government since taking the job in 2007.

Most recently he has been fighting the government in court for access to documents related to the waiver of $6 million in legal fees for Dave Basi and Bob Virk, two former government aides who pleaded guilty in the B.C. Rail case to breach of trust and accepting bribes.

Doyle has also raised alarm bells over the use of massive deferral accounts at B.C. Hydro, and uncovered serious issues with financial accountability at the legislature itself.

The Special Committee to Appoint an Auditor-general is chaired by Liberal MLA Eric Foster. Other Liberal members are John Les and Blair Lekstrom.

No Liberals have yet been reached for comment.

jfowlie@vancouversun.com

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