Dear Editor:
Re: Move raises questions, Letters to the Editor, The Record, Feb. 8.
Letter writer Joe Sawchuk compiles a fictional case against B.C. auditor general John Doyle and then demands that Doyle "come clean" with the public about his new appointment as auditor general for Victoria, Australia.
According to Mr. Sawchuk's creative writing, the job of Victorian auditor general was opened last August when the office holder at that time announced his retirement.
Ordinarily, anyone applying for the job would be required to do so by Oct. 1, 2012. So Mr. Sawchuk deduced that Mr. Doyle had made his move last summer, which by another Sawchuk deduction meant Doyle had no intention of staying on in B.C. for another term. Aha!
The plot of the short story falls apart, however, when it's revealed that Victoria was in the midst of a general election when the Oct. 1 deadline came and went. The new coalition government took office last Nov. 27.
But in any case, Doyle said in a Vancouver Sun interview that he had indeed applied for the Australian position last fall but did not pursue it because his wife was ill and possibly not prepared for the long journey.
When the B.C. Liberals refused to renew his contract here, however, and the new Victorian government offered him the auditor general position, he accepted.
The news that Doyle was interested in the job is hardly surprising; he is Australian, has a notable record in such work in his home country, and found little favour from the Liberal government for his investigations of its activities.
Still, the Sawchuk saga suggested that Doyle had "maybe" gone to Australia at Christmas for a secret job interview.
"As John (Doyle) had nothing to lose, could he have been working on a plan to make the B.C. government look bad and the NDP look good?" wrote Sawchuk.
That doesn't seem too likely, given that Victoria's new premier, Ted Bailleiu, describes the labour government his coalition replaced as "a toxic culture of abuse, bullying and intimidation."
Premier Bailleiu does have something in common with the B.C. NDP, however. He plans to stop taxpayer-funded party political advertising.
Good plan.
Tony Eberts, New Westminster
