(Pt 1) Auditor’s Report On GTH: Covered In Blood and Holding a Knife

I’ve been trying to write about the auditor’s report into Saskatchewan’s Global Transportation Hub, for a week.

Friends who would know better than I, insist that Saskatchewan auditor Judy Ferguson is fair and measured. That she follows her mandate to the letter.

I’ve been trying to roll with the notion that it was just a coincidence that her report, which should be of significant public interest, was buried released on the day the Legislature adjourned for the summer – the day before not just a weekend, but the Canada Day long weekend.

Sorry friends, I just don’t know if I buy it anymore, because this report is ridiculous.

I can’t say it’s a whitewash, because it’s not smart enough to be a whitewash. It’s vague in parts and overreaches in others. It sometimes contradicts itself, or at the least, shows no continuity in themes.

Ferguson was allegedly auditing the ‘processes’ for how the GTH, under the absolute authority of GTH Minister Bill Boyd, transacted these shitty deals.

Her conclusion is that there weren’t any – but she doesn’t tell us why.

In the slim references Ferguson makes to rationale for decisions that are totally irrational, she appears to have simply written down what she was told – without auditing any further.

How the hell do you audit process, without seemingly making an effort to determine the real reasons processes were not only not followed, but non-existent?

That wasn’t her mandate, I’m told.

Then what the f**k was the point?

A friend, who could never in a million years say this out loud, described the report best.

“It’s like a cop, knowing a murder had just been committed in the neighborhood, pulling over someone and asking “Why are you covered in blood and holding a knife?” and the answer is “I just finished butchering a cow,” and the cop responding “Ok that makes sense, have a nice night.””

That, in a nutshell, is the auditor’s report into the Saskatchewan government’s bullshit transaction that made two guys super-rich… wealthy beyond what you and I could only dream of…with a simple flourish of a pen.

On our backs.

Are you at work right now? Did you work hard today? That chunk of cash deducted from your paycheque – that’s your money, now sitting in those guys’ wallets. You worked super hard to pay for their shiny new toys and five-star, all-inclusive vacations.

What did they do to earn our money?

Signed a paper.

Right place, right time, says the Saskatchewan government with a shrug.

Don’t you feel generous?

So, I’m sick of sitting here trying to justify this report’s findings, because I can’t.

And I’m really, really sick of reading headlines like this: Seriously? Did you even read the report?

Though it’s not like the Opposition NDP have really blown our hair back with their response on this either. Was there one?

Maybe, but Canada Day.

Anyway, that’s where I’m at with this, so I’m going to start over and write something else, which I’ll post in the coming days and which will support my opinion of the report and lay out the facts based on what’s been documented.

Then you can decide for yourself how ‘clear’ things are.