The local auditor’s office was created in 2013 by the Liberal government as a measure to find cost-savings and efficiencies in how cities, towns and districts operate. However, municipalities opposed the office, saying it was imposed upon them without consultation and insinuated that local governments were poor fiscal managers. The NDP promised to scrap the office in the 2017 election but chose to keep it open in 2019 after conducting an independent review that concluded 71 percent of local governments that had been audited felt the benefited from a medium to a high degree from the audit. Now the NDP government has announced that it will be eliminating this office as soon as the current auditor general’s term is over. To go to the root of this issue Harjinder Thind chats with Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Hon. Selina Robinson, and the Official Critic for Municipal Affairs MLA Todd Stone.
