Jack Layton letter to the Auditor General

Sheila Fraser, Auditor General of Canada
Stephen Harper, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada
Gilles Duceppe, Leader of the Bloc Quebecois

I am writing to you in an attempt to get agreement to release the final version of the Auditor General’s report on the $50-million of spending on last year’s G8 summit.

Given that this report has now been leaked twice in draft form, it is incumbent on us all to find a way to get the final version of this report to Canadians. Ms. Fraser made clear in her public comments yesterday that we should all wait until the final report is made public before drawing any conclusions. This is sound advice. But with several different draft versions already illegally leaked to media, the release of the final report has become a very pressing issue.

The Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons has made it clear in comments to the Hill Times newspaper that the decision on the release of the report lays with us and the Auditor General. Furthermore, the report has not yet been submitted to the Speaker, so rules of confidentiality with respect to House of Commons procedure do not apply in this case.

We think that it is in the best interests of all parties involved to clear the air, and only making the full and final report public would accomplish this.

I propose that we meet on Thursday morning, where Ms. Fraser can brief us on issues around the release of this report and we can come to an agreement on how to make this report available to Canadians.

Throughout the campaign, I have heard my fellow leaders talk about how we are each other’s opponents but not enemies. Let’s all show Canadians that we can, even in a hotly contested election campaign, take a moment to work together and get results for Canadians.

Yours Sincerely,

Jack Layton
Leader, Canada’s New Democrats