More details expected on audit scandal

More details are expected to emerge this week about a probe that has cost a cabinet minister his job and has shaken Newfoundland and Labrador politics.

Ed Byrne was forced out of his natural resources post last week, after Auditor General John Noseworthy determined Byrne had claimed $358,142 during a two-year period for his constituency allowance, more than $326,000 above his limit.

Police opened an investigation Friday on the Byrne case, while Noseworthyconfirmed he is still working on reports involving a Liberal member of the house of assembly, a New Democratic MHA and a former Liberal representative.

Those politicians have not yet been identified, although on Friday, Randy Collins the NDP member for Labrador West confirmed he had sought legal counsel after he was contacted by the Auditor General's Office.

Noseworthy is expected to release more details in the days ahead.

On Tuesday, Noseworthy will release a report on what he has described as "questionable payments" made to "certain suppliers" by the house of assembly.

While the case has stunned politicians and the public, former auditor general Elizabeth Marshall is not surprised.

Marshall was not only prohibited from investigating constituency funds in 2000, but her staff were asked to leave the premises of the legislature.

At one point, Marshall asked to meet with the Internal Economy Commission, the bipartisan committee that governs the legislature, but got no further than an appointment.

"I actually waited for an hour and a half outside the meeting room. And then I was informed that, no, they would not be meeting with me," Marshall said.

"The problem seemed to be as soon as I found some significant audit findings, I was not allowed in."

The auditor general's staff, which had audited legislative receipts on an annual basis, had that year found that an MHA had claimed wine and artwork as constituency expenses.

Marshall is now a member of the house of assembly herself. She was elected as the Progressive Conservative representative for Topsail district in 2003, and briefly served as health minister before resigning after Premier Danny Williams intervened in a matter in her portfolio without consulting her first.

Marshall, though, applauds Williams for reinstating the auditor general's powers with respect to the legislature.

"He and I are on the same mind about that," Marshall said.

Noseworthy, who worked for Marshall in 2000 when auditors were forced to abandon their work on MHA claims, has indicated that he is looking at the four-year "blackout" period when there was no auditing oversight.

The report on Byrne, for instance, applies only to the 2003 and 2004 fiscal years.

Politicians and pundits are waiting to see what happens next.

Liberal MHA Kelvin Parsons said Noseworthy's reports will lead to change.

"[These are] devastating findings with respect to some members [but] I believe he has to continue to do what he is doing," Parsons said.

"Whatever needs to be done after whatever problems that he uncovers and whatever recommendations he makes certainly need to be implemented," he said.