Castanet by Staff - Story: 26419Feb. 03, 2007 / 6:00 am
In a surprise move, Arn van Iersel submitted his resignation as B.C.'s acting auditor general on Friday. Van Iersel, who was only appointed financial watchdog in 2006, made his mark with one bluntly worded report on Olympic costs released in September. Premier Gordon Campbell and his Liberals had claimed that the province's contribution to the 2010 Winter Olympics would be $600 million because it didn't include the cost of upgrading the Sea to Sky Highway between Vancouver and Whistler. But van Iersel dismissed that estimate, saying a more accurate figure for the province's Olympic expenditure would be $1.5 billion.
He also cited security and running the Olympic secretariat as costs that had not been taken into account.However, that disagreement wasn't what led him to submit his letter of resignation to the legislature's Public Accounts Committee. His letter of resignation says it is important the province have a permanent auditor general. When van Iersel got the job, he was not the unanimous choice of committee members, as he had held a series of senior financial jobs within the government. The NDP members wanted someone from outside to oversee the province's finances. Victoria New Democrat Rob Fleming, the committee chair, said it was problematic for the government for van Iersel to continue sit as acting auditor general.
"I think there were questions around having somebody who comes from government, the comptroller no less, going from being the auditee to the auditor."However, no one on either side of the house ever questioned van Iersel's competence or integrity. He will stay on until until June to give the committee time to find a permanent replacement.
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