Area NDP MPPs France Gélinas (Nickel Belt) and Jamie West (Sudbury) have reintroduced their bill to eliminate any future challenges to the role or powers of Ontario’s auditor general.
The NDP politicians say the bill is being re-introduced as the auditor’s powers of investigation can still be challenged by public organizations who “lawyer up.”
On April 13, the same day Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk released her critical preliminary report on Laurentian University, Gélinas, along with fellow local NDP MPP Jamie West (Sudbury) introduced the bill in the legislature.
The local MPPs brought forward the bill after the insolvent Laurentian University, which was undergoing a value-for-money audit, challenged the authority of Ontario’s auditor general in the courts this past winter.
However, the bill died on the order papers in early May after the legislature was dissolved due to the impending provincial election.
The MPPs said they planned on reintroducing the bill on the auditor general’s powers if they were lucky enough to be re-elected June 2, which both Gélinas and West were.
Lysyk was tasked with a value-for-money audit of Laurentian University’s finances by the legislature’s Standing Commitee on Public Accounts last year. However, Laurentian refused to provide privileged (confidential) information to Lysyk’s audit team, saying they did not have to do so under provincial legislation.
Due to this dispute, Lysyk asked the courts for an interpretation of what is allowed for under the Auditor General Act. In January, a judge ruled that the act does not give AG the right to see privileged documents.
However, Laurentian did end up later having to hand over most of the requested documents after the legislature issued a rare Speaker’s Warrant.
West and Gélinas reintroduced their bill in the legislature on Wednesday.
“For over a year, the Auditor General was trying to get answers about the root causes of Laurentian University’s bankruptcy,” said Gélinas, in a press release.
“What should have been a clear and simple audit of a publicly funded organization, overseen by the provincial government, ended up with many legal challenges to the Auditor’s authority. The Auditor has also filed for an appeal which will cost the people of Ontario a lot of money; all these expenses could be avoided by passing our bill.
“The current situation is disrespectful to the people of Ontario and has added large legal fees to an already bankrupt institution. The Auditor General has asked for these legislative changes to eliminate any ambiguity about her powers and responsibilities in the future.”
The Auditor General Amendment Act, 2022 will make it even clearer that the Auditor General has the right to request and see any documents she needs to do her work, said MPPs West and Gélinas.
“The people of Sudbury want Laurentian to be successful. They want to help rebuild. However, the University’s lack of transparency delayed this from happening. That made people incredibly frustrated and angry,” said West. “Although the auditor has already released an interim report on the subject of Laurentian University, this bill will ensure the Auditor General can work unimpeded in the future.”
“I was lucky enough to participate in the Canadian Council of Public Accounts Committees (CCPAC) in Ottawa last week,” said Gélinas.
“There, I had the opportunity to speak with Auditors and members of public account’s committees from legislatures across the country. After these discussions I am more convinced then ever that we need these legislative changes here in Ontario. Laurentian’s actions hurt the public’s trust in an institution that my community is proud of, we must ensure this never happens again.”
Lysyk said in January she was planning to appeal the court’s interpretation of the Auditor General’s Act.
Gélinas told Sudbury.com in August if the bill to change the AG’s powers were passed into law, it would eliminate the need for Lysyk’s appeal, and also save financially strapped Laurentian further lawyers’ fees.
As mentioned above, Lysyk already released an eight-page preliminary report on Laurentian University’s insolvency, with plans to put out a full report on the topic at a later date.
She said in the scathing report LU’s creditor protection filing was “strategically planned” and the university “chose to take steps to file for creditor protection in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on February 1, 2021.”
Last month, Sudbury.com asked Gélinas for her prediction on when Lysyk might be planning to release her full report on Laurentian. The MPP said she’s expecting it to come out in the very early fall.
