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George Hariton's avatar

Thank you for this.

Various levels of government have independent auditors. The federal givernment auditor, for one, turns u some real gems. But the problem is that there are too few auditors, given the scope of what they have to mandate. I also wonder whether some activities are de faco off limits to them.

Perhaps multi-billion projects should have teams of dedicated independent auditors, with some members of the team having a detailed knowledge of the subject matter. I for one, would be delighted to see my tax dollars spent on this.

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John Ormston's avatar

Paul, I agree with your realpolitik assessment of how governments operate and the naivete of Hourigan in expecting “a culture of early reporting of issues, challenges and mistakes.” But wasn't one of the more significant findings of Hourigan that Watson and Kanellakos lied to the commission of inquiry? I accept the idea that to make an omelette (get an LRT built) you have to break some eggs. But then to testify under oath at a commission of inquiry and lie, is a little beyond the pale. Obviously Watson and Kanellakos knew what was coming and departed before the report was issued. For me, what exacerbates the immorality of Watson lying under oath to Hourigan, is his self-righteous testimony before the Rouleau POEC. I can't imagine that Rouleau will give Watson's testimony much weight after Hourigan's findings on Watson's credibility.

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