No apologies on barring audit: Aylward

Liberal Leader Kevin Aylward is not apologizing for his role in keeping Newfoundland and Labrador's auditor general from looking at the house of assembly's books, years before the legislative spending scandal broke.

Aylward, before retiring from provincial politics in 2003, was one of seven politicians on the Commission of Internal Economy when it voted to prevent the office of the auditor general from reviewing constituency allowances.

The decision was later overturned, and former auditor general John Noseworthy undertook a review that sent four politicians from three parties to jail, and shook politics to its core when the scandal broke in 2006.

Aylward said all politicians in the late 1990s supported the move to exempt the legislature.

"The collective house of assembly including Jack Harris, leader of the NDP, and Loyola Sullivan and the Tory caucus also went collectively with that decision," said Aylward, at the time a cabinet minister in the Brian Tobin government.

"It's regrettable what occurred ... Since then the Green commission has put in place what's required. But we had a systematic breakdown in our accounting system."

Aylward was speaking to David Cochrane as the featured guest on On Point, CBC Television's weekly program on the 2011 election campaign.

Click on the video above to see more, including the weekly On Point panel and a discussion among political insiders of the week's developments.