"If this audit was truly independent, why wasn’t the initial audit report released? Why were extra things added to the report before it was released publicly? Why are there so many political overtones throughout this report? These are questions that must be answered," said Ms. Thistle.

"We have had concerns about the independence of this audit from day one. These concerns were confirmed yesterday when we learned the relationship the lead auditor had with the Tory administration in Ontario. Today, we learn that Mr. Gourley was CEO for a government agency that predicted government deficits. We also learn that Mr. Gourley’s predictions for a Tory administration stated there would be a balanced budget. An independent audit confirmed that the budget was in fact not balanced, but there was deficit of $5.6 billion. Does this mean that Mr. Gourley was receptive to adding extra submissions from this government, even though he had already submitted his report?

"I have submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act to the Department of Finance looking to receive a copy of this initial audit report. If there is nothing to hide, I am certain that this document will be released in its entirety. I am not questioning the numbers provided by the Department of Finance, they were the same figures provided to our government in November, nor am I questioning PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The question that needs to be asked is why did government not accept the initial findings in November?

"Our sources in the Department of Finance continue to tell us that the initial audit report confirmed the predicted deficit in this year’s budget. Our government had faith in these officials to provide accurate figures. It is unfortunate that this government has decided to spend $115,000 instead of listening to our skilled civil servants, the same people they will hurt with their salary freeze."