New Brunswick’s premier says he could ask Auditor General Kim MacPherson to investigate financial irregularities in the office of the lieutenant-governor.

Global News confirmed on Thursday that the RCMP received a complaint about potential irregularities on August 2, the day Lt.-Gov. Jocelyne Roy Vienneau died.

“Depending on the result of the RCMP investigation, we may consider asking the auditor general to look into the matter,” Higgs said in a statement.

“Where this is an ongoing RCMP investigation we won’t be making any further comments.”

Higgs was not made available for an interview.

The auditor general’s office did confirm they are aware of the investigation but refused to comment further, only saying that they are not currently leading the file.

The RCMP is also not commenting on the investigation, only that they received in on Aug. 2.

According to The Canadian Press, the complaint originated from Canadian Heritage, but requests for comment from the department have not been answered.

The investigation comes as the lieutenant-governor’s position has remained vacant for an unprecedented period of time.

It has now been 21 days since Roy Vienneau passed away, making this by far the longest amount of time New Brunswick has gone without a lieutenant-governor. It’s unclear at this time if the delay is related to the investigation.

It is the responsibility of the federal government to appoint a new lieutenant-governor, but requests for comment on the RCMP investigation have gone unanswered.

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