The government chose to bring forward its nominee, Michael Ferguson, in a process that was so deeply and seriously flawed, that in the end no opposition party could support him. Here is what happened.

PARLIAMENT HILL — Unlike 99.9 per cent of other federal office holders in the land, the auditor general of Canada is an officer of Parliament. That means he or she answers to, serves and reports not to the government, but to Parliament. Consequently, it is critical that the person appointed to the office command the respect and support of Parliamentarians of all political parties, government and opposition alike.

Regrettably, the Harper government chose to break with longstanding Canadian Parliamentary tradition, and imposed upon Parliamentarians—for the first time in Canadian history—an auditor general who was rejected by every single opposition party in both Houses of Parliament.

The government chose to bring forward its nominee, Michael Ferguson, in a process that was so deeply and seriously flawed, that in the end no opposition party could support him. Here is what happened.

Knowing that the previous auditor general, the highly respected Sheila Fraser, was retiring at the end of her 10-year term this year, the government initiated a search for a successor. In October 2010, it (properly) published a notice in the Canada Gazette. That notice listed many qualifications that the successful candidate should have, and then went on to say: Proficiency in both official languages is essential. This is what was required when Sheila Fraser applied for the job. This is what is required for all eight officers of Parliament.

However, after having publicly established the criteria for the position, the government proceeded to privately ignore them. It hired an executive search firm, which then recruited Michael Ferguson, a unilingual anglophone, to apply for the position. The firm quietly told him that it didn't matter that the position said that bilingualism was essential—in fact, that word didn't mean what it said, and there was flexibility.

No matter that for over two decades, Canadian auditors general have been completely bilingual. No matter that the auditor general is expected to be able to speak with Parliamentarians and Canadians in both official languages. And no matter that other capable, unilingual candidates may not have applied for the job after reading the job posting, believing that essential meant essential.

On Aug. 31, Prime Minister Stephen Harper wrote to me, as Liberal Party leader in the Senate, advising me of his nomination of Mr. Ferguson. Consulting with the leaders of all recognized parties in both Houses of Parliament is a step required by the Auditor General Act—another indication of the importance of this position to all Parliamentarians.

Nowhere in Mr. Harper's letter, nor in the attached CV of Mr. Ferguson, was there any suggestion that Mr. Ferguson had failed to satisfy all the essential qualifications that the government had set for that position. Nothing indicated that Mr. Ferguson is not proficient in both official languages. Indeed, his CV was in both English and French.

The letter further cautioned that the name of the proposed auditor general needed to be kept in confidence, preventing me from making inquiries that might have raised warning flags about his lack of proficiency in French.

When rumours began to surface of a potential problem, we asked the government leader in the Senate about it. Senator Marjory LeBreton was unable to answer our questions. In fact, she seemed surprised to learn that the job posting required proficiency in both official languages as an essential requirement. I gave her my own copy of the notice so that she could see for herself.

On Nov. 1, senior public servants appeared before the Senate to describe the process that led to the nomination of Mr. Ferguson. They told us that a selection committee, chaired by the President of the Treasury Board, a Cabinet minister, had established the qualifications and prepared the notice requiring fluency in both English and French. We heard that the entire committee felt it was a very reasonable criterion for the auditor general of Canada.

And yet Mr. Ferguson was actively recruited for the position.

The officials did their best to defend the government's actions. They told us that some of the best candidates didn't want the job because the salary was too low.

My colleagues and I were skeptical. The new auditor general will receive $323,000 for 10 years—over $3.2 million in total. Governments in the past had no difficulty attracting the best candidates to the position—Sheila Fraser took the position at a considerably lower annual salary.

We were left wondering whether in fact the best candidates were not prepared to come forward because of the Harper government's record with other independent watchdogs: the late-night firing of the president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission; ousting the chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP; refusing to extend the term of the chair of the Military Police Complaints Commission in the middle of its inquiry into the treatment of Afghan detainees—the list goes on and on.

Whatever the real reason, the result is that Canada now has an auditor general who cannot speak to many Parliamentarians and a great many more Canadians—some seven million whose mother tongue is French.

But this is more than just numbers—it is a matter of principle. We are a bilingual country, with two founding and official languages. Not everyone needs to be able to speak and write in both English and French, but as the selection committee concluded, it is a very reasonable requirement for an Officer of Parliament. As an anglophone Parliamentarian, I expect and have a right to be able to speak directly with any officer of Parliament. My francophone colleagues should expect and have the same right. And when voters across the country elect their representatives, they need to know that regardless of which of our two official languages they speak, they will be treated equally and will be able to function effectively in that language when they take their place in Canada's Parliament.

If the Harper government wishes to abandon bilingualism then it should have the courage and honesty to do so openly, but not slide it in by the back door in this way, hoping no one will notice.

Mr. Ferguson has promised to work on his French, saying he will be proficient within a year. He told us that he will need 1,200 hours of study to achieve that proficiency.

We are concerned about the implications of appointing someone to serve as Canada's auditor general who plans to devote 1,200 hours in his first year to studying French instead of studying the nation's books. A cynic might ask whether this government has deliberately put forward someone who will be too busy studying French to investigate problems in the government spending. It is useful to recall that the chair of the selection committee was Minister Tony Clement, whose highly questionable spending on the G8 was investigated and criticized by the previous auditor general.

For all these reasons, my Liberal colleagues in the House and Senate opposed the appointment of Mr. Ferguson and indeed, took the unusual step of walking out of the Chambers in protest. This auditor general, whose primary responsibility is to assist Parliamentarians in holding the government accountable to Canadians, does not have the full confidence of the Parliamentarians he is to serve. That is what is unacceptable, and Prime Minister Harper's determination to nevertheless proceed with this appointment should concern all Canadians.

Senator James Cowan represents Nova Scotia and is the Liberal Party's leader in the Senate.

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