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BILLIONS hidden by Lieberals!!!!!
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| ShadoWolf |
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Ottaw...923680-sun.html
Grits continue to hide billions
By GREG WESTON, Parliamentary Bureau
The next time Paul Martin proclaims how very, very committed he is to transparency and accountability in public spending -- watch for it ad nauseam when the PM appears at the Adscam inquiry later this week -- someone should whack him over the head with a copy of the auditor general's report. It doesn't much matter which report.
Every year since 1996, the auditor general has pounded the Liberal government, over and over, for hiding billions of dollars of taxpayers' money in so-called "independent foundations."
Next week, Auditor General Sheila Fraser is expected to take another round out of the Martin government over the same issue in her latest compendium of government waste, mismanagement and general stupidity.
Good thing, too. At last count, Fraser tallied a staggering $9.1 billion of taxpayers' cash that the Liberals have stashed in foundations over the past eight years. :whip: :whip: :whip:
That's roughly the equivalent of about $1,000 from every taxpayer in the country. It is also far more than even the Liberals have been able to spend.
Fraser recently noted that even though the government publicly lists the money as having been spent, $7.7 billion is still in the foundations' bank accounts.
But most of all, the federal watchdog of public spending is rabid over the lack of anything resembling the transparency and accountability that taxpayers should reasonably expect.
The foundations are essentially fronts for government cheque-writing on a massive scale, providing handouts to all manner of no doubt worthy causes from garbage recycling to telemedicine.
But don't ask how it's disbursed or to whom.
The books of the foundations are conveniently exempted from the Access to Information Act, and are even off limits to the AG.
:wtf: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:
Unlike the usual flow of funds from the treasury, the government has simply filled the foundations' bank accounts and given them up to 10 years to spend it all.
But not to worry -- our money is in the good hands of foundation boards packed with qualified Liberal appointees.
As Fraser warned in one of her earlier reports: "I am concerned that these huge amounts of public money are provided up front to foundations when there is such a limited assurance of proper controls and accountability."
Last year, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale all but promised to open the foundations and their books to scrutiny. In an interview with me after the April 2004 budget, Goodale said without qualification: "I am perfectly willing and indeed very interested in having the auditor general review the foundations.
"The fact the auditor general is somehow limited in looking into them raises the spectre of concern, and therefore casts a cloud over what they're doing."
And finally: "I want to solve the issue of transparency and accountability."
But apparently a funny thing happened on the way to Fraser's office -- namely, not much at all.
Months after Goodale's published interview with me, Fraser was so alarmed by the billions still hidden from scrutiny in foundations that she refused to sign off on the government's annual accounts without adding a lengthy cautionary footnote.
The AG said she was "very concerned about the accountability and governance arrangements for these foundations.
"I urge the government to implement proper accountability structures."
Paging Paul: Please call your auditor general for an urgent message. It's not your money.
[email protected] |
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| dEsidEL |
9.1 billion .. ? whoa that could build Toronto a real subway system..
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| ShadoWolf |
| quote: | Originally posted by dEsidEL
9.1 billion .. ? whoa that could build Toronto a real subway system..
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They will distribute OUR money in order to maximize THEIR votes. |
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| amb_ |
| Sheila Fraser is hot. |
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| b4k-oz |
| This is so shameful :( |
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| VERTiG0 |
I want my ing $1000 back.
Or something.
I'm just being ignorant right now.
:( |
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| ShadoWolf |
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/nati...port050215.html
Auditor general questions foundation funding
Last Updated Tue, 15 Feb 2005 14:53:50 EST
CBC News
OTTAWA - The federal government is unable to hold 15 private foundations accountable for the more than $9 billion it has given them since 1997, Canada's auditor general said Tuesday.
* INDEPTH: Auditor General
Sheila Fraser (CP file photo)
Sheila Fraser also said about $7.7 billion of the money, which otherwise would have made Ottawa's substantial budget surpluses even bigger, is still sitting unspent in the foundations' bank accounts, gathering interest.
"Given the significant sums involved, I am concerned about the lack of adequate accountability to Parliament," she wrote. "Important gaps remain in the external audit regime and ministerial oversight."
Fraser's latest report also warned that:
* Canadians' sensitive personal information, held by various federal government departments, is vulnerable to security breaches from hackers. She found that the government doesn't meet its own minimum standards for computer security.
* The government is dragging its heels on appointing board members, chairs and chief executive officers to key Crown corporations and agencies. Fraser said four corporations had no top executives controlling them at the time of her audit, even though Canada's 43 Crown corporations manage more than $78 billion in assets.
* The government has made only "slow and unsatisfactory" progress in basing its decisions on sound financial information.
* The Canadian International Development Agency has started giving out more of its foreign aid budget in the form of grants, which aren't subject to the same performance conditions as the more traditional donations. Since 1999-2000, Fraser said, grants have increased from $6 million to $148 million, with the latter figure representing more than eight per cent of the agency's total money pool.
Fraser's report, tabled in the House of Commons Tuesday afternoon, pointed out that although the 15 foundations receiving big government grants are audited and file annual reports, they are private corporations.
* FROM FEB. 15, 2005: Foundations come under auditor's scrutiny
That means they fall outside the scrutiny and control of Parliament and aren't subject to access to information laws or government contracting regulations.
Leading up to the auditor general's report, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale said he had talked to Fraser about ways of making the foundations more accountable and transparent.
Martin helped establish foundations
The 15 foundations were set up while Prime Minister Paul Martin was finance minister to promote science, education, technology and research. They include the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Canada Health Infoway, Genome Canada, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and the Millennium Scholarship Foundation.
The government argues foundations are more efficient at making those kinds of long-term investments.
But Fraser's finding that many of them can't spend the money they have been given is sure to raise political hackles.
Opposition MPs have often accused Martin of trying to hide the size of budget surpluses rather than spend them on delivering programs. Last year's surplus was projected to be $1.9 billion, for example, but came in at $9.1 billion instead.
The current year's budget surplus is estimated to be $8.9 billion, and at least $5 billion of that could be earmarked to set up yet another private foundation. This one would establish a national child care plan for Canadian families.
Results sometimes lacking
There also have been problems with making sure the foundations produce results.
For example, Canada Health Infoway was set up five years ago to develop a national system of electronic medical records. Several CEOs and $1 billion later, doctors are still waiting for the system.
The Canadian Medical Association's past-president worried that it would turn into another expensive exercise, like the billion-dollar-plus gun registry. The current head of the association, Dr. Albert Schumacher, is more understanding of the lack of progress.
"Many Canadian physicians are still not connected to high-speed [internet] hookup because of distance and because of place, so this is a struggle we're still trying to overcome," he said.
Slightly more than a year ago, Fraser released a damning report on the sponsorship program, designed to raise the profile of the federal government in Quebec after the 1995 sovereignty referendum. In her Feb. 10, 2004 report, she found that up to $100 million in public funds went to Liberal-linked ad firms for work of debatable value.
* FROM FEB. 10, 2004: Auditor general gives details of 'scandalous' sponsorship program |
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| ShadoWolf |
http://www.canada.com/national/stor...97-266ec34824ca
Foundations money out of scrutiny
Sandra Cordon
Canadian Press
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
OTTAWA -- The Liberal government has channelled billions of taxpayer dollars away from public scrutiny - and from controversial budget surpluses - into arms-length foundations that are still sitting on most of their cash, says Auditor General Sheila Fraser.
More than $9 billion that would otherwise swell federal surpluses has been invested in agencies like the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, which don't face adequate oversight despite previous complaints, the auditor general said in her latest report Tuesday.
The lack of scrutiny suggests they could be open to abuse.
In fact, Ottawa is so far removed from the foundations that cabinet can't alter the terms of the programs, even if the social climate and public need changes.
''Given the significant sums involved, I am concerned about the lack of adequate accountability to Parliament,'' Fraser wrote.
''Important gaps remain in the external audit regime and ministerial oversight.''
Her review is especially timely, coming just a week before the next federal budget which some say could include plans to sink billions more into new foundations, perhaps to fund a national daycare program.
Fraser's review, looking back over eight years, found that only a small portion of foundations funding has been spent. Fully $7.7 billion is still sitting in accounts, building up interest.
That's not a complete surprise, since Ottawa tends to put all the funding in place immediately, even though the spending stretches out over several years far from the scrutiny of MPs.
And since foundations don't face performance audits - essentially reviews of value for public money - there's no way of knowing exactly how all the funds are managed.
It was just such performance audits that allowed Fraser's office to uncover the Liberal government sponsorship scandal that is now under review by Justice John Gomery. It involved $250 million in government advertising contracts that went for work of little or no value.
Certain funds, such as the Canada Foundation for Innovation, continue to grow as Ottawa frequently tops them up with new tax dollars even though they can't spend the budgets they already have.
That helps the federal government reduce the size of its controversial annual budget surplus whenever it wishes, rather than spending money only when it's actually needed.
Prime Minster Paul Martin's Liberal government is frequently criticized for trying to downplay and underestimate the size of its massive budget surpluses.
Last year, for example, it estimated a $1.9-billion surplus - limiting opposition demands for tax cuts or spending hikes - then was embarrassed when the surplus actually hit $9.1 billion.
Some observers believe the minority Liberal government might use next Wednesday's budget to take a chunk of the current year's federal surplus - estimated at $8.9 billion - and set up a foundation to deliver a $5-billion child-care program.
That would allow it to meet a key election campaign promise from last June right now, while it has the cash in hand and before the minority Liberals might be forced into another election.
The next few budget years are expected to be much leaner with smaller budget surpluses, making it hard for Finance Minister Ralph Goodale to deliver on several other campaign commitments including spending on seniors, the military, communities and infrastructure.
Fraser said that since her last report on foundations in 2002, Ottawa has tried to make foundations - which in law are independent corporations - more publicly accountable.
Treasury Board, the federal department that oversees government spending, disagreed with Fraser's ''conclusion that overall programs has been unsatisfactory'' but says it's willing to keep working with her.
© Canadian Press 2005 |
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| Jayx1 |
yet we will probably re-elect them. With every ballot cast after all this scandal its one more assertion to the Liberals that they can do whatever the hell they want and get away with it.
You have to wonder why taxes keep going up but services keep getting cut.
Too bad we cant impeach like they can in the US |
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| walkindude |
last year a couple friends and I tried to get money from the innovation foundation for the tech starup we had. It is next to impossible to get a grants from them. Basically, they will give you the money as long as they have the right to own the intellectual property... so in the end you think twice before you ask them for cash...
So its a catch 22..... and I think they do that just so that they dont have to give out this money. |
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| Jayx1 |
| Basically they will only give you the money if you are "friends" of the their party. |
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| dEsidEL |
wow that's a lotta money... enuff to build TO a world class subway system and end TTC woes for a long time ..
oh yeah , also a very nice lakefront ..
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