The Ministry of Canadian Heritage has put out a tender to hire an auditor to examine VANOC's spending over the past three years.

According to a CBC story, the feds are prepared to pay $75,000 for a firm to review VANOC's books over the past three years.

One wonders how necessary this expenditure would have been had Premier Gordon Campbell kept his promise to ensure transparency.

"These Games are owned by the people of this province," Campbell claimed in a ceremony at the Plaza of Nations on July 5, 2003 just after the IOC had selected Vancouver as the host city for 2010.

The Straight pointed out at the time that if the premier was serious about transparency, he would ensure that VANOC was subject to four key laws promoting accountability:

* The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

* The Document Disposal Act

* The Financial Information Act

* The Financial Disclosure Act

This would have guaranteed that VANOC would publish annual lists of payments to all suppliers of goods and services.

It would have ensured that VANOC travel expenses, including individual hotel bills, were freely available to the public.

It would have introduced legal penalties if VANOC officials went on a document-shredding spree. But the premier chose not to do this, and three years later, the taxpayers will have to pony up more money on audits.