Doesn't The Auditor General Work For The Taxpayer

And don't we have a right to know where our tax dollars are going without having to resort to the Freedom of Information route and without an audit would we get a true picture of potential waste?

Audit of Parliament gets cold treatment by self-serving pols

Thursday, October 5. 2006

Fraser's Parliament audit proposal greeted with mixed reactions

Auditor General Sheila Fraser is proposing the first audit of Parliament in 15 years but resistance is already building among MPs over the access Fraser, who audits the entire government for Parliament, should have to their own spending details.

New Democrat MP Pat Martin, while praising Fraser's reputation as a hero for her work on the Liberal sponsorship scandal, said she should not be allowed to delve deeply into spending details, including millions of dollars worth of expenses and free airline travel.

"I'm not ready to endorse that." said Martin. "There are internal checks and balances that are subject to the scrutiny of the Canadian people at election time that's their chance to comment."

Liberal MP Derek Lee was also reluctant to support a sweeping audit of the kind Fraser routinely does on government departments and agencies, saying an internal audit by Parliament would be preferable.

"I don't think the auditor general should want to do anything other than that which she is asked to do by statute or by Parliament," Lee said. "There will be resistance, I think, among some members for diverse reasons to going through an audit of their individual budgets."

Fraser disclosed during a recent Senate committee hearing into the government's accountability bill that she was "in discussion" with parliamentary officials about an audit, and later confirmed she wants to scrutinize the House of Commons financial statements.

"I think Parliament's auditor should audit Parliament," she said outside the committee.

Posted by Editor