New Brunswick’s auditor general is resigning at the end of the year — halfway through his 10-year mandate in office. “I’ve gotten a lot of questions today, have I quit, and that’s not the case. It’s just simply time for me to retire,” Paul Martin told CTV News on Thursday. “I felt I had accomplished what I wanted to in the job with the changes we made in the office and the improvements in adding new technology into the way we do our audits.” He came into the role in January 2022. New Brunswick’s Auditor General is an independent officer charged with holding the provincial government accountable. The mandate is for 10 years, according to the Auditor General Act. But Martin said he never planned to stay the whole 10 years through and then retire when he was 72. “I would suggest to you that I stayed longer because I took the position than I had originally planned,” he said. In his term, he released reports student literacy, NB Power’s Tantramar gas plant project and, most recently, collaborative care clinics. But Martin told CTV News he’s most proud of his 2024 report raising concerns about travel nurse contracts. “It’s our tax money at work, and we want to see it spent properly,” he said. Although it’s Martin’s job to hold leaders accountable, he faced some criticism in 2023 after 12 employees left his office in the same year. “I’m concerned that as a result you’ve lost continuity, you’ve lost expertise,” Green Leader David Coon said in a public accounts committee on Sept. 7, 2023. But at the time, and to this day, Martin maintains those exits were for better opportunities and more pay. “I don’t believe for a moment that it was just our office. It was our economy and the need for accountants in a lot of different places,” Martin said on Thursday. His last day on the job will be on Dec. 31. Before then, he’ll file one final report. “I’m leaving the office, I think, in a good place with good people that are there to support the next person,” he said. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
