Auditor general won't talk about a dozen departures from his office
Paul Martin says market for hiring auditors is ‘hot’ but won’t say if any staff were fired
Paul Martin told reporters, however, that there's no connection between the huge staff turnover and the approach he took with his twice-delayed audit of the government's COVID-19 response.
"I can't speak to individual human resource matters. Any departures from our office had nothing to do with this report or any other report," Martin said during a news conference at the legislature.
Martin confirmed last month via a written statement that 12 people have left his office since the start of the year, and nine new people have been hired.
But he refused an interview request and was not available to answer questions until Thursday when he presented his latest report to the legislature's public accounts committee.
'Competitive' offers
Martin told reporters that some of the employees who left were lured away by competitive job offers from the private sector.
He said there's been an increase in job vacancies for financial auditors and accounts.
"We have some very strong, well-credentialed professionals with many opportunities, and the marketplace is hot right now," he said.
But he refused to say how many of the 12 left for that reason and whether any were fired.
Green Party Leader David Coon told Martin during his presentation to the public accounts committee of the legislature that he should have asked MLAs for additional funding so he could keep key employees from leaving during the COVID-19 audit.
"You've lost continuity, you've lost expertise," Coon said.
"Why wouldn't you have come to the legislature … to ask for an increase in your budget if your wages are not competitive with what the market is paying?"
Martin responded that he did point out the hot hiring market for auditors when he met over the last two years with the committee of MLAs that helps set his office budget.
"This shouldn't be a surprise," he told Coon. "I believe you were on that committee."
Martin, who took over as auditor general at the start of 2022, said his office has adopted a new strategic plan that includes "building a strong team to achieve our mission, our goals and objectives."
Those departures represent more than one-third of the 32 employees who now work for the auditor general, an independent officer of the legislature whose mandate is to review government spending and programs.
Former deputy auditor general Janice Leahy and two senior auditors were among the 12 who left. Leahy was replaced by Deidre Green.
Reading from prepared notes, Martin said his office offers "a safe and welcoming work environment" to a diverse group of employees, which has allowed him to fill the vacancies.
"I think we've attracted some top-notch people that have replaced them, and believe in our mission to hold government accountable, to come forward with reports that matter," he said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In 2021 a former auditor in the office, Brent White, urged the Higgs government to recruit the new auditor general from outside the civil service.
White argued that hiring auditors general from within the government risked compromising their independence, violating key tenets of the accounting sector's professional standards.
Martin is the third consecutive auditor general appointed from within the civil service.
Higgs said in 2022 that when a hiring committee recommended Martin, he raised the independence issue himself but was assured that files he handled as comptroller would be "treated independently … so you're not reviewing your own work."
So if we had honest politicians, would we need auditors
Reply to Les Cooper
Surely you jest we need honest auditors too
Reply to David Amos
Auditor general won't talk about a dozen departures from his office
Reply to David Amos
"The office does not comment on specific human resource matters," he wrote.
Leahy did not respond to an interview request sent by email and left on her home voicemail.
She served as acting auditor general for part of 2021 before Martin was appointed to the position to replace Kim Adair-MacPherson.
Leahy also took the lead on some audit reports released after Martin's appointment because they scrutinized government programs he monitored in his former role as comptroller, an internal watchdog position in the Department of Finance.
Reply to David Amos
Perhaps it's because of something she signed?
Reply to Don Corey
I am glad somebody noticed
N.B.'s top doctor at bottom of COVID-19 decision-making hierarchy, auditor general finds
Group identified as 'COVID core' in 3rd spot, Paul Martin's audit of the province's pandemic response shows
The roles and responsibilities of executive committees were not always clearly defined or documented, and no records were maintained to support meetings of the "COVID core," Paul Martin said in his performance audit, presented Thursday to the legislature's standing committee on public accounts.
He described the COVID core as "the group of senior officials who supported the cabinet committee on COVID-19."
Tory MLA Trevor Holder said he didn't recall any such group and questioned what its purpose was.
Martin said, "a process was created whereby the Department of Health would bring forward advice to COVID core who would then review, challenge and provide strategic thought around the information."
Department of Health advice would then proceed to the cabinet committee on COVID-19 and on to cabinet, he said. The minister of Justice and Public Safety would then issue mandatory orders under the Emergency Measures Act "informed by advice from the Department of Health."
The provincial government made "difficult decisions, which significantly impacted the lives of New Brunswickers," such as restrictions on gatherings, mask mandates and closures of schools and business, Martin noted in his 99-page report.
Overall, the government reacted quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic with unprecedented measures aimed at saving lives, including the province's first state of emergency, he said.
But he criticized the government's level of preparedness. For example, New Brunswick did not have an updated pandemic plan, based on lessons learned from the H1N1 flu experience, he said.
He also found problems with the government's decision-making process, record keeping and communications.
"We found six instances out of 14 sampled restrictions in mandatory orders where public health measures were supported by verbal updates only," the report says.
One mandatory order from June 2020, that everyone who enters any building open to the general public must wear a face mask covering their mouth and nose, was revised the next day, "after decision-makers asserted that it did not reflect the intended decision."
Holder said this "pointed out a significant gap."
"That wasn't leaving out a comma or a colon somewhere. That was a pretty significant oversight that changes what cabinet actually decided. That's a pretty big breakdown."
'Face' of COVID response missing from report
Tory MLA Andrea Anderson-Mason questioned the lack of reference to "what one would arguably say was the face of COVID [response] for us," Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province's chief medical officer of health.
"From my own recollection, she was very involved in the decision-making process and the advice that came from her department," Anderson-Mason said, adding she was surprised to see Russell's office at the bottom of the organizational chart.
Martin said the chief medical officer of health, assistant deputy minister of public health and deputy minister of health were among those with authority to attend cabinet committee on COVID-19. "So these people were in the room at these cabinet committee meetings," he said.
Like Holder, Anderson-Mason zeroed in on the COVID core. "Even though I was a member of cabinet at the beginning of the pandemic, this is the first that I have ever heard of COVID core."
She consulted with a few of her colleagues, she said, and they're "in a very similar situation."
"And yet we have a whole chapter dedicated to this elusive cabinet core. How do you actually know that it exists?"
Martin said he got his information from the Department of Health.
Anderson-Mason said she found some of the information in his report "quite concerning," citing as examples the lack of terms of reference and lack of records, such as meeting minutes, agendas, discussion notes or actions.
She also found it "bizarre" that Martin's report describes the COVID core as a subcommittee of the security and emergency committee, yet it's listed above that committee in the organizational chart.
Martin acknowledged she has a "great question there for the executive council office when they come in."
5 recommendations
Overall, the structures and processes established by the province for the COVID-19 response "set a framework for effective oversight," but there are opportunities to improve oversight to be better prepared for a future pandemic, Martin said.
Among other steps, he recommended the province:
- Prepare and keep emergency response plans up to date for all hazards, including pandemics.
- Test and update plans on a regular basis according to a pre-defined schedule.
In addition, he said, the executive council office should ensure the roles, responsibilities and expectations of all executive committees involved in provincial emergency response are clearly defined and documented; records are maintained for all committee meetings during an emergency response; and that recommendations and decision support be documented for any similar future emergencies, "as emergency situations become more stable with the passage of time."
The executive council office, in collaboration with New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization, should undertake a post-operation review and incorporate communication lessons learned into an updated New Brunswick Emergency Public Information Plan, said Martin.
The executive council office should also ensure the Department of Justice and Public Safety, in collaboration the Department of Health:
- Undertake an after action review to evaluate the provincial response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Incorporate lessons learned into an updated provincial pandemic emergency plan.
- Create and implement a schedule to regularly test and update the provincial pandemic emergency plan.
The government agreed with all five recommendations, according to the report.
The legislature unanimously requested the performance audit on March 31, 2022.
Another volume is expected in December.
In 2021 a former auditor in the office, Brent White, urged the Higgs government to recruit the new auditor general from outside the civil service.
White argued that hiring auditors general from within the government risked compromising their independence, violating key tenets of the accounting sector's professional standards.
Martin is the third consecutive auditor general appointed from within the civil service.
Higgs said in 2022 that when a hiring committee recommended Martin, he raised the independence issue himself but was assured that files he handled as comptroller would be "treated independently … so you're not reviewing your own work."