Saher quotes Dr. Seuss as he steps down as auditor general
‘I’m a child at heart,’ says watchdog who famously audited Reford’s expenses
Alberta’s retiring auditor general has a whimsical take on what he’s learned during a 38-year career — one that culminated with reports ranging from former premier Alison Redford’s travel expenses to improving provincial health care.
“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if you only try,” said auditor general Merwan Saher, quoting a Dr. Seuss children’s book. “I’m a child at heart. When I read that, I thought ‘ Wow, that sums up everything.’”
Saher handed off the role of auditor general Saturday after eight years in the position.
It was serendipity that made Saher leave London, U.K., for Alberta in 1980 to become a legislative auditor. “There was this half-page advertisement in the Daily Telegraph in London: Office of the Auditor General recruiting audit supervisors,” he said. “I was focused on getting to Canada and the two things just came together.”
Saher had an 18-month plan to gain experience and move on — “I didn’t understand legislative auditing” — but stayed nearly four decades.
He is perhaps best known for auditing Redford’s flight and travel expenses, releasing a report the day after she stepped down as a member of the legislature in August 2014.
The report asked how the abuse of expenses could have happened, and argued it was the “aura of power around Premier Redford and her office,” coining a phrase that would become synonymous with the political scandal.
But the phrase credited to Saher wasn’t his idea.
“I have a chance now as I leave office to tell the world I didn’t coin ‘aura of power,’” he said, adding it was a colleague’s wording. “The moment I saw it, I thought ‘Brilliant, it’s absolutely right.’”
Saher doesn’t believe his report forced Redford out months after she resigned as premier.
“Our job was to look at transactions and events,” he said. “She had her reasons to vacate her seat.”
While it’s arguably the most high-profile auditing job of Saher’s career, he’s more proud of other work such as a five-year strategic plan for the auditor’s office, as well as the 2017 report to improve Alberta health care.
The Better Healthcare for Albertans report argued that health care operated as an “orchestra without a conductor,” lacking integrated services.
“I believe that this was a very useful piece of work,” he said. “We concluded there was no point going back into the health arena and repeating the recommendations already made.”
At the time, 41 health care-related recommendations spelled out in previous auditor reports hadn’t been resolved.
Much of his work has included a fixation with the long term, Saher said.
“The environment, Indigenous children attending school, capital planning, pension sustainability, these all had a long-term focus,” he said.
That perspective was accented by his farewell report stressing the need for long-term fiscal projections. It stopped short of making recommendations to government.
As for what’s next — the places he’ll go — Saher doesn’t have a firm plan laid out for retirement.
“I really don’t know yet,” he said. “I’m a firm believer in serendipity; things just happened.”
Doug Wylie, who has worked in the office of the auditor general for 28 years, will take over from Saher.