28 September 2006

Auditor General backs Harper

OTTAWA -- Canada's auditor general came to the defence of the Stephen Harper government's centrepiece accountability bill yesterday as it undergoes the slow scrutiny of a Liberal-dominated Senate.

Sheila Fraser countered the criticism of information commissioner John Reid that the proposed Federal Accountability Act is regressive by blocking public access to draft internal audit reports and audit working papers.

"With respect, his position reflects a fundamental lack of understanding of the audit function," Fraser told the Senate committee on legal and constitutional affairs.
Geez, who would be interested in blocking a bill that makes government more accountable?
The committee has spent 70 hours and interviewed 100 witnesses while examining the bill, prompting the government to accuse the Grits of deliberately stalling the bill in Senate.
Oh, right... those guys.

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