Sheila Fraser, Canada's Auditor General, will be in Whitehorse on Feb. 2 to deliver an audit in relation to the Department of Highways and Public Works.

The report, which will be delivered to the members of the legislative assembly, is entitled Transportation Capital Program and Property Management Department of Highways and Public Works.

It is a performance audit, said Margot Booth, manager of media relations for the office of the Auditor General.

'It's fairly standard,' said Booth.

She added Fraser's visit to deliver the report is also not an unusual occurrence nor an indication of anything out of the ordinary.

The audit will be delivered to Speaker Ted Staffen the morning of Feb. 2 and then to the MLAs. It will then be released publicly later that morning when Fraser will host a press conference, said Booth.

Hearings of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts dealing with the audit are tentatively scheduled for Feb. 7 and 8.

The Department of Highways and Public Works has had the opportunity to review parts of the report to ensure the accuracy of various statements and figures, said Booth.

The last report released by Fraser in 2005 addressed the Mayo-Dawson City transmission line and the Energy Solutions Centre.

Fraser was harshly critical of Yukon Energy and its management of the project from the very beginning.

Management of the project has been described as a boondoggle that sent the cost soaring 30 per cent or more over the original $27.2-million estimate.

The Energy Solutions Centre was criticized by the auditor for poor accounting practices and inflated salaries for management personnel.

During a visit to the territory in February 2006, Fraser indicated her team would be meeting with the Yukon government to set out future auditing priorities over the next five years, though she did not mention specific issues.

The Auditor General did say, however, that in addition to the annual financial audit, her office will be providing an annual report on other matters, just as it did for the specific review of the Mayo-Dawson power line and the Energy Solutions Centre.

In December, Highways and Public Works Minister Archie Lang maintained that the audit into the department was within the norm.

'Audits do happen on a regular basis in all of government,' said Lang.

'Like all departments do in government, we audit our department: the work that's being done, the value of the dollars being spent and capital programs, property management project delivery.'

Don Inverarity, a Liberal member of the public accounts committee, has requested the department's former deputy minister, John Stecyk, appear at the hearings following the release of the report.

Stecyk's position as deputy minister was revoked last week. He had served as the deputy minister in the department since 2002.

The only explanation for his removal from the position was that deputy ministers serve at the pleasure of government and the appointment can be revoked at any time, said Patricia Daws, the Yukon's public service commissioner.

Traditionally, former employees of government are not invited to appear at hearings, said Inverarity. But Stecyk would likely be more readily able to answer questions concerning the report than the new acting deputy minister Janet Mann, he said.

The government has not yet agreed to permitting Stecyk to appear, said Inverarity.

In December, Liberal MLA Gary McRobb told the legislative assembly he did not believe the pending audit was 'normal.'

'This is not business as usual,' said McRobb. 'This audit interviewed a number of employees and honed in on the political interference in terms of contracting and value for money expended in terms of a lot of different areas.'