Auditor General of Canada Karen Hogan speaks during a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, on March 19.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Karen Hogan, the federal Auditor-General, has told MPs she has no role to play in solving the dispute between opposition parties and the government that has brought work to a standstill in the House of Commons.
Ms. Hogan told the Commons standing committee on public accounts Monday that the two sides need to resolve the issue without her involvement.
The Conservatives have been filibustering a motion since last month to protest the Liberal government’s failure to produce documents related to conflicts of interest at the now-defunct Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC).
“I respect the privilege of the House and its ability to compel the production of documents, but this is not my information to hand over. It is the government’s,” Ms. Hogan told the committee.
In June, SDTC was stripped of its independence and folded into another federal agency after Ms. Hogan issued a report that detailed a series of conflict-of-interest breaches and other concerns.
Ms. Hogan’s report detailed “significant lapses” in the agency’s governance and handling of public money and said SDTC failed to follow conflict-of-interest policies when it awarded tens of millions of dollars to companies with ties to its own directors and managers.
The Auditor-General’s audit found 90 instances where funding for projects was approved when conflict-of-interest policies weren’t followed, representing a total of $76-million.
Ms. Hogan rejected a request by the committee asking that she do a second “value for money and performance” audit into SDTC projects. In a letter to the committee dated Oct. 21, she said “it is highly unlikely that our main findings, conclusion, and recommendations would be different if we were to look at additional projects.”
Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer put forward an opposition day motion on the matter on June 10, calling on the government to hand over a wide range of documents related to SDTC, including briefing notes, e-mails, conflict-of-interest declarations and board meeting minutes.
The House approved that motion in a 171 to 150 vote, with opposition MPs outvoting the Liberals.
In late September, House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus agreed with the opposition that the government has not complied with the Commons order.
The Liberals have not complied because the production order from the Official Opposition goes further than typical requests by requiring records be handed over to the RCMP. The Liberals argue that the MPs’ right to have the documents doesn’t extend to giving the papers to someone else.
The Conservatives’ filibuster centres over a motion of privilege, which takes precedence over other House business. It has left the Liberal government unable to table new bills.
Ms. Hogan told the committee Monday that her independence could be impeded if she is the mechanism by which Parliament obtains government information, adding the information should come directly from the government itself.
“I am concerned about the unintended consequences that it might have on public servants and our ongoing access to information in a timely way to complete our work,” she said.
As the committee hearing proceeded on Monday, MPs in the Commons were arguing about the issue elsewhere on Parliament Hill.
Conservative MP Scott Reid accused the government of misdirection.
“I simply am unable to determine what, other than a deliberate attempt at misdirection, lies behind all of the high-sounding assertions regarding procedural justice that keep on being mentioned by Liberal members,” Mr. Reid said.
In response, Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux, the parliamentary secretary to the government House Leader, said the Conservative exercise was “multimillion-dollar abuse of power” that should end so MPs could deal with issues facing Canadians.