B.C.’s acting auditor general is long-time official in current AG’s office

VICTORIA – A veteran accountant has been appointed British Columbia’s new acting auditor general.

An all-party committee of the B-C legislature named Russ Jones to the job, replacing auditor general John Doyle, who will leave his post in May.

Jones first started working in the auditor’s office in 1980 and was appointed assistant acting auditor general in 1993.

His appointment will run until the committee finds a new permanent auditor general, expected sometime after the May provincial election.

Earlier this month, the government amended the Auditor General Act to limit future auditor general appointments to single eight-year terms, as opposed to the previous six-year term, with the option of a second six-year extension.

Doyle applied for a second six-year term, but the committee could not unanimously agree on his reappointment, touching off a vicious public debate that eventually saw the government introduce term-limit legislation and Doyle accept a similar job in Australia.