Here's what Victoria Times Colonist writer Les Leyne says, "Liberal MLA Eric Foster is clear on one point — he had no idea while sitting in judgment on auditor general John Doyle’s fate that Doyle’s team had rapped his office earlier for not submitting receipts for a constituency-office renovation."
OH REALLY??
Eric
Foster’s Constituency office in Vernon
seems to be pretty basic and very small -- as you can see from this screen shot
of Google street
level. Now I'm no carpenter, but one
would think that $78,000, or is it $67,000, would practically build a brand new
building of this type.
That's
probably one reason why Auditor General John Doyle's office sent up red flags,
and:
" ... questioned a $78,000 bill for renovations in Foster’s constituency office in 2009 that was “paid without an appropriate level of review for reasonableness and without adequate supporting documentation,” said the letter. Foster’s staff only provided a spreadsheet showing $67,000 in work, without invoices or details, auditors noted."
It would seem
that Eric is acting like a cornered rat, and acting on the old adage that the
best defense is a good offense as we can see in a Globe and Mail story; "MLA Eric Foster demands probe into audit
leak"
It is interesting (sadly perhaps) that he’s claiming the renovation
expenditures are a “non-issue.”
Maybe that's also why
Finance Minister Mike de Jong offered a boat anchor to his caucus colleague. This news story from the Globe and Mail also says
the De Jong had;
... little sympathy, saying the public should have access to details of how MLAs spend public money. “I have long spoken for the need for more transparency and increased public accountability for the dollars that are spent by MLAs and cabinet ministers,”
