Acting auditor general John Wiersema is questioning the government's assertion that a border congestion fund is often used for projects that are not in border communities.

Wiersema expressed his concern Friday, a day after he tabled former auditor general Sheila Fraser's final report on G8 and G20 spending that put Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government on the defensive.

His office's report showed that Parliament was never told $50 million for a G8 legacy infrastructure fund was part of a submission to approve $83 million for the Border Infrastructure Fund.

Wiersema didn't go as far as to say that Parliament was misled, but said the government's move wasn't transparent. But opposition critics are accusing the Conservative government of misleading MPs and abusing public trust and money.

Liberal interim leader Bob Rae, noting that the Muskoka region where the G8 meeting was held is far from any border, asked the prime minister in question period Thursday to explain what he called a "bait and switch" because money for one thing was requested but spent on another.

Harper responded that the Border Infrastructure Fund is "frequently" used for projects that are not in border communities. His office was asked Friday to provide an example and it said in 2003, improvements to Knight Street in Vancouver were made through the fund.

A news release on the Infrastructure Canada website from 2003 describes the street as the most heavily used truck route in Vancouver and a trade corridor that links the city to the province's border crossing.

Your handy guide to the G8 projects Come on a virtual tour to see how those Canadian taxpayer dollars were put to use in the region surrounding the site of the 2010 G8 summit. Full story and interactive map

Wiersema said it's news to him if the border fund is used for other purposes, and if the G8 fund isn't the only case where money was diverted from it, he said it's a reason for worry.

"If monies earmarked for border infrastructure are being used for other purposes in addition to the G8 legacy fund I would have the same concern that I had with respect to using that fund for the G8 as well. If that's happening, I don't think it should be," he told CBC News.

Wiersema said his office will take the prime minister's answer into account when deciding what audits to undertake in the future.

"There are always more audits to be done, but we can only take on so many audits. Just like with everything else in government, we'll consider this in the planning of our future audits," he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who was in charge of the G8 fund when he was infrastructure minister, explained Thursday that the G8 fund was put under the existing Border Infrastructure Fund for expediency's sake.

That response also doesn't sit well with Wiersema.

"The ends don't always justify the means, especially in the public sector when we're dealing with taxpayers' money. There are important rules that need to be respected and the government has shown that it can respect them," he said.

Need for speed

There was also a need for speed when the government rolled out its massive Economic Action Plan that funded thousands of infrastructure projects across the country, Wiersema noted. As far as the auditor general's office has been able to determine so far, normal processes were followed in those cases and no rules or policies broken.

He believes at least two government policies weren't respected with the G8 fund: a policy on the management of information that requires decision-making processes to be properly documented and another on transfer payment programs that requires they be done transparently.

The interim auditor general said federal government departments have no paper trail for how the 32 G8 projects were chosen out of 242 that were proposed by Huntsville and the surrounding municipalities in Muskoka, and as a result, there is no basis for accountability and transparency.

The auditor general's report showed that leading up to the G8 and G20 summits in June 2010, Parliament approved seven separate funding requests related to security, hosting and organizing the events between November 2009 and May 2010.

In the November 2009 supplementary estimates, for example, Parliament approved $45 million for the G8 meeting. The supplementary estimates and main estimates are what give Parliament the authority to spend money if approved.

The supplementary estimates in November 2009 also contained the funding for the Border Infrastructure Fund, that unbeknownst to MPs, contained the G8 legacy fund within it.

Wiersema isn't clear on why a separate funding request wasn't made for the legacy fund when separate requests were made for other associated costs. He said it's "troublesome" that the G8 fund was within the border fund.

He said he's pleased, however, that the government has said it accepts the report's recommendations to improve transparency.

Wiersema wants parliamentary committee to study G8 report

The opposition parties want the auditor general's findings explored further at a parliamentary committee, but that won't happen before MPs leave Ottawa for the summer.

In an interview with CBC Radio's The House that will air Saturday, Wiersema said he hopes a committee will study the report and that he would testify as a witness.

P.O.V. Are you satisfied with the auditor general's report? Take our survey.

Wiersema was named interim auditor general following Fraser's retirement May 30 and it was up to him to present her last report. It was supposed to be tabled in April but its release was delayed because of the election.

He acknowledged the task he had this week came with some pressure. Fraser was known for making blunt assessments in her press conferences when releasing her reports and over her tenure she garnered the respect of MPs on all sides of the House of Commons and Canadians generally.

"It was a challenge. Those are big shoes to fill," Wiersema told guest host Chris Hall. He was deputy auditor general under Fraser for seven years and said he "learned a great deal from her."

The government hasn't named its nominee yet for replacing Fraser, but Wiersema confirmed he's not among the candidates. He's not interested in the job, he told Hall.