Manitoba's Public Accounts Committee

Last night the subject before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Manitoba Legislature was the Auditor General's report on the Crocus Investment Fund.

Sadly, the time was used in procedural wrangling as the NDP did not want us to call witnesses like the former Ministers of Industry Economic Development and Mines, MaryAnn Mihychuk and Scott Smith, nor the government appointed representatives to the Crocus Board, John Clarkson and Ron Waugh, nor Eugene Kostyra, nor Premier Gary Doer.

The government successfully stonewalled the committee. At one point, Committee Chairperson Jack Reimer was so exasperated he said "the rules are not clear... This PAC committee can't operate under these types of rules. We have said that 10 times. The Vice-Chair and I are in total agreement on this. So I am thinking that somewhere along the line and before the end of March this has to be cleared up, or we are not going to have any more PAC sittings."

It was a frustrating evening. We have tried to change these rules to make them more effective, but the problem is that the NDP have no interest in making the Public Accounts Committee more effective.