Auditor general's former deputy says firing was 'retaliatory'
Janice Leahy was among a dozen employees who left the office in 2023
Janice Leahy was one of a dozen employees of the office who left their positions this year for reasons Auditor General Paul Martin has refused to discuss.
"The termination was retaliatory in nature given the positions taken by the plaintiff [Leahy] and was in bad faith," Leahy says in a statement of claim filed Nov. 22.
She and her lawyer Robert Basque turned down an interview request, and her filing does not elaborate on what was retaliatory about her firing.
Auditor General Paul Martin refused to comment on the lawsuit Monday. (Jacques Poitras / CBC)
Martin has filed a notice saying he plans to file a defence.
His office refused to comment on the lawsuit Monday.
"The Auditor General cannot discuss the matter as it is before the court," spokesperson Jolyne Roy told CBC News in an email.
None of Leahy's claims have been proven in court.
Green Leader David Coon said it's "very concerning" that Leahy is alleging retaliation for positions she took, given Martin and his team were working on a review of the government's COVID-19 response at the time.
MLAs, including Coon, questioned Martin's approach to the first phase of the review when he presented it to them in September after two postponements.
"It was very unusual to have a committee hearing with the auditor general where so many questions were asked to the auditor general about the process that he followed in this case, rather than clarifying the substance of his findings," Coon said.
The second phase of Martin's COVID-19 audit will be released next week.
Green
Leader David Coon says it’s 'very concerning' that Leahy is alleging
retaliation for positions she took, given Martin and his team were
working on a review of the government's COVID-19 response at the time. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Martin said in September there was no connection between the departures from his office and his approach to the pandemic audits.
The auditor general is an independent officer of the legislature whose mandate is to review government spending and programs.
Leahy said in the court filing that she was fired July 12 "without cause, and without notice" and is owed a higher severance package than what Martin gave her.
"The plaintiff was employed in a unique and highly specialized position and was highly paid compared to the average worker in New Brunswick," the claim says.
Leahy had worked as the deputy auditor general since 2011.
Leahy says she was earning $166,166 a year, far more than the $107,249 annual salary in the new job she found at the Canada Revenue Agency in September.
She also says she was entitled to severance equivalent to 24 months' notice, not the 10 weeks she received.
She is claiming the difference, along with lost vacation pay, pension contributions she says Martin's office should have continued making past July and other amounts totalling $163,497.37.
Martin confirmed in August that 12 people — more than one-third of his staff — had left his office since the start of 2023.
During his September appearance before the legislature's public accounts committee, he said some of them were lured away by competitive job offers from the private sector.
But he refused to say how many left for that reason or whether any were fired.
He also said his office had adopted a new strategic plan since he took over at the start of 2022, a plan that includes "building a strong team to achieve our mission, our goals and objectives."
He said his office offers "a safe and welcoming work environment" to a diverse group of employees, which had allowed him to fill the vacancies.
Martin would not say Monday whether anyone else has left his office since he confirmed 12 departures in August.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Trust that the lady had been made very aware of my concerns with the CRA since 2017 when she was the deputy auditor general she called me and I was happy that she did so.
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Jacques Poitras · CBC News · Posted: Sep 07, 2023 3:03 PM ADT
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Madame Roy and her boss should give my emails to their lawyers
60th Legislature - 2nd Session
Bill No. 32An Act Respecting Transferring Powers to the Energy and
Utilities Board
Bill Type Government Bill
Status Royal Assent
Sponsored by
Hon. Mike HOLLAND
> Energy and Utilities Board Act
> 3( 1) Section 1 of the Energy and Utilities Board Act, chapter E-9.18
> of the Acts of New Brunswick, 2006, is amended
> (a) by repealing the definition “nominating committee” and
> substituting the following:
> “nominating committee” means a committee composed of the Deputy
> Minister of Natural Resources and Energy Development, the Deputy
> Minister of Justice and Public Safety and the Deputy Minister of
> Finance and Treasury Board, or any person designated by any of those
> Deputy Ministers to act as their representative, and the Chairperson
> and Vice-Chairperson. (comité de candidatures)
>
>
> Costs
> 47.1( 1) For the purposes of this section, “intervener” means the
> person, other than the Public Intervener, authorized by the Board in
> accordance with its own procedure to participate as a party to the
> proceeding, including an investigation or review.
> 47.1( 2) The Board may, in any proceeding before it, order, subject to
> subsection (3), the costs of and incidental to any proceeding be paid
> in the amounts or proportions by or to a party to the proceeding.
> 47.1( 3) The Board shall not make an order under subsection (2)
> (a) when the proceeding results from financial and consumer services
> legislation, and
> (b) with respect to the Public Intervener referred to in section 49.
> 47.1( 4) The Board shall adopt procedures with respect to costs to be
> paid to an intervener under subsection (2).
No doubt the problem lies with the one at the top. He cannot even get along with his caucus and his cabinet and he seems to be the only one who cannot see this... well except Ronnie Miller Time.
After a whole lot of the office leaves, the #2 person gets fired. Has anyone checked into whether that was the end of the departures?
The one person who the public pays a massive wage to to oversee gov spending and actions has decided to not speak. Why are we paying for an AG, again?
-sound of crickets-
Free-for-all at the trough continues...
The Auditor General does NOT oversee government spending, the Executive Council (Cabinet), the Finance Department and the Treasury Board does that.
The Auditor General is an independent Officer of the Parliament (Legislature) of the Province of New Brunswick that completes EXTERNAL AUDITS and specialized examinations of the Executive Government and bureaucracy to ensure that the money is being well-spent:
"The auditor general is an independent officer of the legislature whose mandate is to review government spending and programs."
""The Auditor General cannot discuss the matter as it is before the court,..." "
That is standard procedure for matters that are before the Courts, and to do otherwise would be inviting Contempt of Court charges from the Court.
" "His office refused to comment on the lawsuit Monday.
"The Auditor General cannot discuss the matter as it is before the court," spokesperson Jolyne Roy told CBC News in an email."
The Auditor General can NOT and should NOT comment on any matter that is before the Courts.
With regards to the Auditor General's audits and reviews of the Government's COVID-19 strategies and programs, the article does report the following:
"MLAs, including Coon, questioned Martin's approach to the first phase of the review when he presented it to them in September after two postponements.
"It was very unusual to have a committee hearing with the auditor general where so many questions were asked to the auditor general about the process that he followed in this case, rather than clarifying the substance of his findings," Coon said.
The second phase of Martin's COVID-19 audit will be released next week."
Therefore, the Auditor General was reporting to the elected representatives of the people of New Brunswick.
Also, the Courts operate as an independent branch of the state, and the Executive Government would be unable to slow down the Court process for civil lawsuits.
Oh by the way, the Auditor General NEVER directly reports to the public. Remember during the 2011 Federal General Election, the Auditor General of Canada was unable to submit a report to the Speaker of the Senate, and to the Speaker of the House of Commons as the 40th Parliament had been dissolved, hence, the report could NOT be made public.
"15(3) An annual report by the Auditor General to the Legislative Assembly shall be submitted to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on or before December 31 in the year to which the report relates, and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly shall table each report before the Legislative Assembly without delay after receipt of it by him or her or, if the Legislative Assembly is not then in session, within ten days following the commencement of the next session of the Legislative Assembly."
So, the Auditor General is NOT being muzzled.
Source: https://www.canlii.org/en/nb/laws/stat/rsnb-2011-c-118/latest/rsnb-2011-c-118.html
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