The Nova Scotia auditor general has asked the province to withdraw proposed legislation that would give the government powers to fire her without cause.
Kim Adair, the auditor general (AG), said the new bill would take the independence away from her office.
“It’s normal that auditor generals and governments, from time to time, have differences of opinion. On occasion we agree to disagree. In those instances, in particular, you need an independent auditor general,” she told reporters Thursday morning.
The province’s AG is the government watchdog, investigating their operations to see where things could be improved. A recent report related to school violence shed light on how it has increased in the province and recommended key ways the province could improve the education system.
The province accepted the recommendations in the report, Adair said, and that lead to the creation a new school code of conduct policy.
PCs could censor reports under new bill
The new bill proposed by the PCs would let create new authority to dismiss Adair without cause, so long as the house votes two-thirds in favour. The PCs currently hold 43 of 55 seats.
But it would also give the government power to keep those reports private, effectively censoring information meant for the public.
Adair said she was blindsided by the move, and her office doesn’t have legal experts, so she isn’t even sure of the full implications yet.
On Wednesday, Premier Tim Houston said the move would align Nova Scotia’s laws with those of other provinces.
But Adair said at least eight other AGs have protections from being fired without cause, meaning the auditor must have significant performance issues in the role to be let go.
Adair said she met with government officials yesterday, but she wouldn’t say who attended the meeting.
While speaking to reporters on Thursday morning, she said several times that she does not want to speculate on what could happen if the bill goes through. She said right now she’s focused on today.
“I do not want to make this adversarial in any way. I think it’s important people know that I have made the request to withdraw the bill and to have the opportunity to consult and to address any concerns,” she said.
Opposition won’t support bill
The Liberal party said they won’t support the bill.
Liberal MLA Ian Rankin, who is also a former premier, says his government also accepted several recommendations from the auditor general. They had a very collaborative relationship, he said.
“The combination of hiding reports and having the power to fire the auditor general is deeply problematic,” he said.
More to come…
