Nova Scotia government giving itself the power to fire the auditor general

CBC

18-02-2025

Premier Tim Houston's government is using its supermajority in the legislature to give itself the power to fire the auditor general without cause and make reports from the office private.
The changes are included in one of two omnibus bills the government tabled on Tuesday, the same day the provincial budget was released.
The Government Organization and Administration Act makes a number of changes, including setting out previously announced plans by the Progressive Conservatives to do away with Communications Nova Scotia, the government agency that was required by legislation to produce non-partisan materials for the public.
Responsibility for government communications, labour relations, and priorities and planning are now all being pulled under the control of the executive council office, the government entity that supports the premier and cabinet.
The bill would also make changes to the Freedom of Information Act, giving the head of public entities the ability to refuse applications deemed to be frivolous and vexatious or not specific enough. There would be appeal mechanisms.
The province's fixed election date, the first piece of legislation Houston introduced after becoming premier in 2021 but did not adhere to, would also be repealed as part of the omnibus bill.
But it's the changes to the Auditor General Act in the omnibus bill that could be the most significant.
They would allow the government to fire the auditor general without cause if it has the support of two-thirds of the MLAs in the legislature. The Progressive Conservatives comfortably clear that threshold with 43 of 55 MLAs in the House.
Other amendments would give the attorney general, a role currently held by Lunenburg West MLA Becky Druhan, the power to designate any records or information in an auditor general's report as being subject to solicitor-client privilege, litigation privilege, settlement privilege or public interest immunity.
Speaking to reporters, Druhan could provide no examples of past auditor general reports that inappropriately revealed confidential information.
"Government holds a significant amount of information and there is always the possibility that there is confidential or privileged or private information that does need to be protected," she told reporters.
Druhan said she hoped not to need to exercise the new government powers.
Further power is also being extended to cabinet ministers so they can request that part or all of an auditor general's report be made private if, in their opinion, it would be in the interest of public safety or any other public interest.
After the auditor general confidentially submits the report, it would be up to members of the legislature's public accounts committee to determine whether part or all of the report should remain confidential. The government currently holds a majority on that committee.
The changes would also bar the auditor general from releasing their report until the premier and cabinet have had it for two weeks. The changes also give the government the power to shorten or lengthen that time period.
A spokesperson for Auditor General Kim Adair said in a statement that Adair was not consulted about the proposed changes and she is seeking a meeting with government officials to understand the impact the changes would have on her independence.
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said the changes seem designed to strike at that independence and represent a consolidation of power by Houston.
The auditor general is supposed to be an independent watchdog for government spending that assesses how the government is functioning and spending the public's money, said Chender. The changes tabled Tuesday "should send a chill through Nova Scotians who believe that they have a responsible government," she said.
"The auditor general evaluates the finances of the province and those are your finances, those are our finances," she told reporters.
"They don't belong to a cabinet minister, they don't belong to the premier, they belong to the people of Nova Scotia, and the people of Nova Scotia deserve to understand how decisions are being made, how their money is being spent and what the independent expert opinion on those expenditures is."
Interim Liberal Leader Derek Mombourquette said "it's alarming" that the government wants to remove the independence of the auditor general.
"We all know that the independence of that office is very important," he told reporters. "It keeps the government accountable."
Mombourquette noted it was an auditor general's report in 2009 that revealed thousands of dollars in inappropriate spending by some elected officials in Nova Scotia. That report led to resignations, criminal charges and convictions for some MLAs.
Premier Tim Houston would not answer questions from reporters about the proposed changes and walked away when he was approached at Province House.
The premier has refused to speak to reporters in the legislature since the session opened, instead making himself available only in a government-controlled media room across the street from Province House. He is the first premier in living memory to do so.