Provincial auditor faces questions over GTH land sale report

Provincial auditor Judy Ferguson was in the spotlight as she appeared before the standing committee on public accounts on Tuesday.

The members of the committee were discussing her report into the controversial Global Transportation Hub (GTH) land sale that saw government pay well above market value was being discussed. 

The NDP was critical of the scope of the audit which Ferguson did at the request of government.

But she revealed the process audit was much broader in scope than a forensic audit which may not have revealed everything that we now know about the deal.

“Frankly if we did a forensic audit there would be a lot of matters that we included in our report that would not have been provided to the committee,” Ferguson explained.

A forensic audit looks to “prove fraud or error or wrongdoing.” A process audit “looks at how well things are managed.”

Ferguson’s report included the fact there may have been a breach of cabinet confidentiality while the land deal was being negotiated.

But she noted “information moves from cabinet confidentiality to officials so those officials can do their jobs and carry out actions.”

The NDP wanted to have the former GTH minister Bill Boyd and all past GTH CEOs appear before the committee, but the government voted that down.

The deputy minister of highways – along with the current GTH CEO – will instead appear at a future date.