RCMP would not say who made the complaint or if it was made by more than one person. (New Brunswick government)
RCMP say the complaint of "financial irregularities" against the office of the lieutenant-governor came from the office itself.
Sgt.
Mario Maillet, a spokesperson for the force, wouldn't say exactly who
made the complaint or in what circumstances, or even if it came from one
person or multiple people.
The investigation was opened Aug. 2, the same day Lt.-Gov. Jocelyn Roy Vienneau died.
No charges have been laid, Maillet said Friday, and there's no timeline for getting the answers to remaining questions.
"Financial crime investigations can take a long time, depending on what kind of information we receive," he said.
Premier
Blaine Higgs said in a statement he may consider asking the auditor
general to look into the matter, but it all depends on the result of the
investigation.
"Where this is an ongoing RCMP investigation we won't be making any further comments," he said.
Lt.-Gov. Jocelyne Roy Vienneau died on Aug. 2. A new lieutenant-governor has not been appointed yet. (James West/Canadian Press)
A
provincial spokesperson confirmed the Department of Canadian Heritage
and the Office of the Comptroller have jointly conducted an audit that
brought this issue to the attention of the RCMP. Exactly what prompted
the audit is still unknown.
A new lieutenant-governor has not
been appointed yet, so this investigation comes at a time when there is
no one to sign cabinet orders or approve cabinet decisions.
Parliamentary expert Lyle Skinner said New Brunswick is lucky the legislature is not sitting in the summer.
"You
never know when some type of urgent government decision needs to be
made, [which] can't happen because of the office being vacant," he said.
Skinner
said 21 days without a representative of the Crown is a record for New
Brunswick. The previous record of 16 days was reached when John Boyd
died in office on Dec. 4, 1893.
Lieutenant-governors serve a
minimum term of five years unless they resign early, so an appointment
to replace Roy Vienneau was widely expected this fall regardless.
What about the federal election?
Skinner
said there is no concern that the federal election will get in the way
of appointing a lieutenant-governor, if it takes that long to appoint
one.
Canada has a caretaker convention, which says government
should restrict itself to routine and non-controversial decisions when
election time is close.
The Canada Elections Act says a campaign
can be a maximum of 50 days, which means the writs for this year's
election can't be be issued until Sept. 1.
"This is 10 days
away," he said. "If it gets to the point where the position is not
filled by then, the caretaker convention would kick in."
RCMP investigating the lieutenant-governor's office have not laid any charges. (New Brunswick government)
New Brunswick RCMP are investigating a complaint of "financial irregularities" at the lieutenant-governor's office.
Sgt.
Mario Maillet, a spokesperson for the RCMP, said the force received the
complaint on Aug. 2, the same day Lt.-Gov. Jocelyne Roy Vienneau died.
Maillet said the RCMP could not provide any details about the investigation but noted no charges have been laid.
A
spokesperson for the province refused to comment on the matter, saying
any questions about the investigation should be directed to the RCMP.
Office funded by province, feds
The office of the lieutenant-governor is funded by the provincial and federal governments.
In
the 2017-18 fiscal year, the last year numbers are available, the
federal government paid $62,947 in expenses incurred by the
lieutenant-governor "in the exercise of their official duties."
For that same year, the province listed the office as having a budget of $342,000.
While
the provincial budget for the office is not broken down, the federal
numbers are for travel and accommodation, hospitality, and operational
and administrative expenses.
While the figures for these individual categories have varied from year to year, since 2010 they have always totalled $62,947.
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