Bush insists he will stay on Public Accounts Committee

Former premier McKeeva Bush says he has no intention of resigning from his position on the Public Accounts Committee, following calls from Chairman Roy McTaggart for him to step down.  

Mr. McTaggart confirmed on Wednesday that he had written to Mr. Bush, his deputy on the oversight committee, asking him to resign because of “conflicts of interest,” following the opposition leader’s public criticism of the auditor general. 

He said he felt Mr. Bush had taken some of the recent reports personally and would find it difficult to examine them objectively. 

Mr. Bush, who was absent from Wednesday’s PAC hearing, dismissed the criticism as “political trickery” and said he had every right to criticize public officials.  

Mr. McTaggart said on Wednesday, “My issue concerns his public responses to the travel report. He was openly critical of the auditor general and seemed to have taken it personally. I felt that was a conflict because of the role he plays on PAC where we are required to be objective. 

“I felt some of his criticism demonstrated a lack of objectivity and a lack of ability to examine the report in a fair manner.” 

The Auditor General’s report on central government “travel and hospitality” spending, totaling $8.6 million over three years, raised concerns about unexplained and excessive spending. 

Mr. Bush confirmed he had received the letter, but said he had no plans to act on it. He said the comments were a distraction from what he described as the real conflict of interest on the Public Accounts Committee – the fact that it is controlled by the government. 

He said the country was failing on an important “democratic benchmark” set by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association by having a member of the government – Mr. McTaggart – as chair of the financial oversight committee.  

“The PAC should be chaired by the opposition or an independent member, not by a government member.  

“Roy McTaggart and the PPM are in breach of this important democratic benchmark. For them to come now with their political shenanigans of saying I’m in conflict for openly criticizing the auditor for his unfairness, is purely an action taken for political trickery and vindictiveness,” Mr. Bush said. 

He said he had the right to challenge the auditor on his own expenses. He added, “It is my right also to point out that the auditor ought to talk to the person he is criticizing before he publicly publishes any report on a matter he is checking on, for him to be able to be fair and honest in his reporting.”