PM says appointing non-bilingual auditor general a mistake: Reports

I don't know about that Rex. AG Fraser was good at busting chops of Harper too.

The problem is the new Premier of Quebec. I think he wants to head off the "bilingual" witch hunt she is about to embark on.

Personally I strongly feel the only language an AG should be fluent at it "numbers"!


There are plently of translators on the Hill that can answer the questions for him.

It was wrong to appoint an auditor general who is not bilingual, Prime Minister Stephen Harper now reportedly admits.

According to Montreal newspaper La Presse, the prime minister told his Conservative caucus last week he made a mistake last year when he appointed the English-speaking Michael Ferguson to the job, and indicated the government would support the NDP's bill requiring officers of Parliament to be bilingual before their appointment.

NDP MP Alexandrine Latendresse, from the Quebec City riding of Louis-Saint-Laurent, tabled a private member's bill, bill C-419, earlier this year that would require 10 positions to be bilingual. Those positions include chief electoral officer, privacy commissioner, ethics commissioner, information commissioner and official languages commissioner.

The Liberals and Bloc Quebecois have already indicated they would support C-419.


Yes, I'm not surprised that the PM would say he was wrong appointing this guy, but it is likely less to do with his language skills than it does with the fact that over the last few weeks, this AG has lambasted the Tories on topics like Veterans care, DND operational capacity and defense against cyber threats, and that was just this week. So, I will not be surprised if this gets Tory support and then they can fire the current AG for not meeting these requirements. Everyone knows what happens when you criticize the Harper government. You are unceremoniously shown the door.