We're sorry to see John Doyle, British Columbia's auditor general jump ship, although you really can't blame him.
First the government ends his term, then the committee in charge of his position debates whether they want to have him for another eight-year term or not. Then they decide to just extend his term for two years. And then Doyle reveals this week that he's leaving beautiful B.C. for beautiful Australia and taking a position with the Australian state of Victoria.
However, in the transparency vein, we are curious about when he made this decision. Was he headhunted during the brouhaha?
Was he already looking for another job? Did he just get fed up with politics in B.C.?
Of course, this is all, as the AG will no doubt advise us, part of a person's right to privacy.
We only ask because we naively started to believe that Doyle had a personal investment in the whole transparency, accountability thing in B.C. We saw a champion determined to make a lasting change to the way government operates in B.C. Someone who not only "got it" but was willing to butt heads with whoever he had to, to focus attention on problems. Were we wrong? Well, partially.
We forgot that the guy is, after all, just a human being who needs a job and wants to do his job without having to come to the office every day to face another mind-numbing slog through bureaucracy, and then face self-interested, ambitious politicians more intent on getting re-elected than answering to the citizens of British Columbia.
His parting words implied that folks in B.C. just didn't get why accountability and transparency were important. He's probably right.
Can the government fill John Doyle's shoes? Hard to say, but it should certainly try, or it will be further proof that our elected officials don't "get it".
