Finance minister Michael de Jong yesterday introduced legislative amendments to extend the term of B.C.’s auditors general (AGs) to eight years from six – but make the appointments non-renewable.
The amendments to the Auditor General Act also “ensure the legislative assembly has the authority to appoint an acting auditor general in those circumstances where the term of office of the auditor general is set to expire or otherwise end in the time period during the dissolution of the legislative assembly.”
Under current legislation, the AG may be appointed for a six-year term with the possibility of reappointment for a term of up to six years.
B.C. AG John Doyle recently accepted a role as AG of the state of Victoria in Australia, following a reappointment debacle in B.C.
At the time of the debacle, Jordan Bateman, B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), told Business in Vancouver that he doesn’t support the reappointment of any independent officer, no matter how well they’ve performed the role.
“One of two things usually happens with any kind of independent officer and a government – either they get too cozy with the government because they’re worried about being reappointed and all that, or the relationship becomes so toxic that the two sides wouldn’t even be able to agree that the sky is blue,” he said.
“So we never really support reappointing. We think auditor generals should have one term and then be done.”
He added, however, that B.C.’s AG terms have been “a little short.”
