Score one for common sense.

After more than a week of criticism over her refusal to give up control of an investigation into the company she recently was a board member of — including here — Carol Bellringer has finally relented. The province's chief financial watchdog announced via press release late this afternoon she had officially washed her hands of the audit into Manitoba Hydro's financial practices, then bolted out the door for the day without answering any questions from reporters.

Here's the press release:

"A disclosure made under the Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower) Protection Act had been forwarded by the ombudsman to the auditor general to be dealt with in accordance with the Auditor General Act.

"Carol Bellringer, the auditor general, has advised the whistleblower that, due to the sensitivity associated with addressing that disclosure, it has been returned to Irene Hamilton, the ombudsman. Hamilton has agreed to follow up the disclosure as originally filed under the Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower) Protection Act."

This decision was a no-brainer. As long as Bellringer was in control of the audit, Hydro wasn't likely to get a fair shake from the public, as even a full exoneration from the auditor general would have been met with skepticism given her extensive history with the utility.

The only real question is why it took so long for her to concede this point in the first place. I'll leave that question for the conspiracy theorists to answer.

In the meantime, let's just be happy the investigation will now be headed by someone other than Bellringer who, one can hope, has less of a conflict of interest than the auditor general.