Christy Clark looking to extend term of auditor general
Posted January 16, 2013 11:35 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Christy Clark is promising to keep Auditors General around longer. The Premier is responding to criticism as A.G. John Doyle‘s six year term nears an end.
To fix what she calls a flawed system that can be tainted by politics, Clark says when the legislature resumes in the Spring, she will push for Auditors General to serve a single eight year term. That’s up from the current six, a move Clark believes will boost public confidence.
“By doing this, we’re giving the Auditor General appropriate time to pursue the matters that he or she need to be looked into appropriately and effectively without worrying about whether they’ll be rehired,” Clark adds.
That doesn’t mean John Doyle is in the clear but Clark says she’s asked the standing committee that chooses AGs to offer him another two years.
“But there are two things I don’t control in that,” she points out. “Although that’s my hope, that decision would require the unanimous consent of the committee first. And then, second, if they decide to extend the offer to Mr. Doyle, he would need to decide whether to accept it.”
Doyle has intensely scrutinized the BC Liberal government, leading critics to believe he’s being replaced for political reasons.
Clark says she expected controversy so close to an election but says it’s not the first time questions about the Auditor General selection process have been raised.
“When there’s skepticism, it puts everybody, the MLA’s and the auditor general, in an untenable position. There will always be perception issues when the selection is done so close to an election,” she says.
