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How independent is audit?

VICTORIA — Independent audit, eh? Let me
tell you who’s on the committee to review the
province’s finances, and then you tell me how
independent and reliable the outcome will be.

First I’d like to say that an audit, a truly
independent one, is absolutely necessary to find
out, once and for all, what British Columbia’s
deficit is. :

John Jansen, the former Socred' finance minis-
ter stubbomly stuck to his $395 million figure,
even when his leader, Rita Johnston, revised it to
$1.2 billion.

Along can Glen Clark, the new finance minis-
ter, and told us that an initial look at the books

- showed the deficit for the current fiscal year to be

closer to $1.7 billion perhaps even higher. Con-
sidering the disparity of those figures, an inde-
pendent audit is clearly called for.

I should also mention that it’s not a new idea to
call in independent auditors to sort the mess,
alleged or otherwise, left by a previous adminis-
tration. Bill Bennett’s did just that when he came
to power in 1975.

The key word is, of course, independent. The
outcome must stand up not only to professional
scrutiny, but also to the suspicions of a cynical
populace.

So, let’s take a look at the committee Clark

appointed to tell him and all of us, just where the
financial skeletons are buried.
' First, there’s George Morfitt, our own auditor
general. No problem there. Morfitt has shown his
independence on numerous occasions, sometimes
to the chagrin of the previous government.

Next, there’s Maureen Maloney, dean of the
University of Victoria’s law faculty. No problem
there either, although I don’t think our deficit is
necessarily a legal problem.

There’s also Dr. Thomas Gunton, a Simon
Fraser University professor and vice-president of
the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British
Columbia. Another good choice.

But now it gets interesting. Also on the
committee is David Emerson, former deputy
minister to former premier Bill Vander Zalm. For
a while, during the Bill Bennett Administration,
Emerson was also deputy finance minister.

During the hearings into the Coquihalla High-
way overruns, Emerson distinguished himself for
not remembering a hell of a lot of details that led
to the $500 million overrun. Later, he would
spend most of his time protecting Vander Zalm,

mainly from himself.

And how about Doug Horswill, another mem-
ber of the committee to sift through the financial
mess? How independent can his judgment be,
considering that he was very much part of the
administration that left the.mess behind?

Finally, there are two well-know consulting
firms on the committee — Pear Marwick Steven-
son and Kellogg; and Deloitte and Touche. The
only problem I’ve got with those choices is that
the latter does work for B.C. Hydro, a Crown
corporation.

Clark says the review will provide the govern-
ment with an accurate assessment of the current
financial situation, as well as the information
necessary to guide future decisions.

I'd still like to know what on earth Emerson
and Horswill are doing on the committee. Maybe
Clark thought they could bring some pretty
detailed knowledge about the previous adminis-
tration’s fiscal practices to the committee, but
they could have done that without being on the
committee.

Both Emerson and Horswill played prominent
roles in the big coverup of the real deficit,
whatever that may eventually turn out to be. They
both knew that the deficit was certainly higher
than the finance minister of the day claimed it
was, but they remained silent.

They will say it’s not their job to contradict
their bosses, but I’m afraid it’s not good enough
to let the politicians take all the blame. The old
excuse of just following orders doesn’t hold water.
There was a time when deputy ministers wouldn’t
have stood by, allowing their political masters to
hoodwink the public.

There was a time when a discreet phone call to
a reporter or columnist would have brought such
political shenanigans to light very quickly.

Those times, it seems are gone. Now the people
who knew damned well the politicians were lying
through their teeth got appointed to committees to
find out just how big the lie was.

Fortunately, there are enough people on the
committee who weren’t associated with the
previous government to make the results of the
review credible.

But to call the review completely independent
is a bit of a joke. It’s about the same as appointing
Hubert Beyer to a committee to determine how
well newspapers are being served by political
columnists out of Victoria.

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Bingo set stage for $10,000 windfall

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THERE WAS A big bingo winner in more ways
than one Saturday night. Ladysmith resident
Dianne Harris made the trip to Sidney to meet
her sister at the Peninsula Bingo Hall. The visit
proved worthwhile as Harris won a $45 game. As
is usual practice, part of the win came in the form
of a Super Banco Scratch-and-Win lottery ticket.
“T was happy to win the $45, then I scratched the

~ free lottery ticket and when I realized I was a

winner I couldn’t believe it.” Numbers matched
for the $10,000 grand prize. “At first I didn’t want
anyone to know, but then I couldn’t help myself
and let out a big scream,” she said. The bingo
hall, which raises money for 49 charitable
organizations, gives away about 90 lottery tickets
per day. They’re purchased from the Saanich
Peninsula Hospital Auxiliary. The 44-year-old
mother of four, a Chemainus College student,
plans to buy a new car, pay some bills, buy a new
sofa set and shop for Christmas and birthday gifts.
eK *

URGENTLY NEEDED TO help the Sidney
Lions/Review Christmas Hamper Fund are
volunteers, Lion Lloyd Silver said last week. The
office, at 303-9810-Seventh St. in the Mariner
Mall, is currently staffed by Lions Club members
but there isn’t enough of them to go around.
Silver has divided the day into two shifts — 10
a.m. until 1 p.m. and 1 p.m. until 4 pm. — anda
sign-up sheet is posted. If you can help, drop in or
call 656-9625. It’s only until Dec: 21.

* * *

IT’S ALMOST CHRISTMAS time and The
Review is preparing its special Christmas Carol
supplement that will be published Dec. 4. Each
year, requests for extra copies are received. To

ensure your service club or organization has
enough copies to go around at the carol sing, call
ahead and let us know how many copies you’ll
need. Just call Wendy or Lori at 656-1151.

* * x

THE FINAL TALLY IS in. Students at North
Saanich Middle School gave the folks at CIBC a
hefty piece of work. Final weight of the coin
collected at Halloween was about 860 lbs., for a
total of about 100,000 pennies, or $1,000 cash fro
UNICEF. Peninsula representative John Hopper
hauled the load to the View and Douglas branch,
where employees spent extra time running it
through a machine into rolls.

xR *

CHRISTMAS CARDS THAT help the Save
The Children Fund of B.C. are produced by
Vancouver Island artists Fenwick Lansdowne and
Roy Henry Vickers. In Sidney, they’re available at
Village Gallery on Beacon Avenue and the PCA
Thrift Shop on Third Street. In Brentwood, get
them at McGill and Orme Pharmacy.

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