THE FOUNDATIONS ARE A SECRET NO MORE

[Soulforger]

This is great news!

It was great news last February but this is November and in this case no news is not good news.

If the information is available then WHERE IS IT and why is it we have heard nothing from the media on it. This is the same media that said they would leave no stone unturned to get anwers. Whether they found something or didn't I have a right to know.

Everything takes time.

[styky]

<center><a href=http://www.rileyis.com/report/>RILEY INFORMATION SERVICES INC.
CONFERENCE REPORT

ACCESS TO INFORMATION:
THE NEXT CHALLENGES </a></center>

<snip>

The View from a Newcomer
By Suzanne Legault
Ms. Legault is a newcomer to the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada, and she thought it would be useful to review the ATIP situation from that perspective. Her previous work experience was not is this area, so she has been on a steep learning curve recently. In terms of her role as Assistant Information Commissioner, and in keeping with the theme of this Conference, she addressed the following topics:

new institutions covered by the ATIA
impact on Office of the Information Commissioner of new institutions and requestors
measures taken to accommodate new institutions and requestors
next steps
The coverage of the Access to Information Act was extended to include 69 additional institutions (an increase of 37%). These included the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (effective as of 12 December 2006), and five foundations (effective as of 1 April 2007):

Canada Foundation for Innovation
Canada Foundation for Sustainable Development Technology
Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation
Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada
The Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation
Five more Officers of Parliament, including the Office of the Information Commissioner itself, were also covered as of 1 April 2007, as were seven Crown Corporations, and fifty-five subsidiaries of Crown Corporations. As well as all of these, there is also coverage of six other organizations. This will be quite an increase in work load, and quite a responsibility for the Office of the Information Commissioner. Both more requests, and new provisions regarding the handling of requests, are being prepared for The Treasury Board Secretariat which expects an additional 2,500 ATIA requests per year because of these changes. Since the Federal Accountability Act, OIC has seen a 40% increase in the average number of complaints per month, from 111 to 156. There will also be a significant increase in turnaround time to complete investigations.

New definitions and clarifications of records and government institutions will be needed. Reports on expenses of investigations must now be filed. A variety of new exemptions to the ATIA have been put in place. Besides all of the foregoing, the Duty to Assist will likely require considerable more personnel and resources. Because the Office of the Information Commissioner is now subject to the ATIA, a process had to be created to ensure an arms-length implementation of this requirement. In view of all of the above, the Office of the Information Commissioner will now begin to seek (i) secure additional funding; (ii) additional staff; (iii) improved service delivery;

(iv) a review of the complaints process; (v) timely interpretation of new provisions; (vi) meetings with the newly covered institutions; and (vii) lead by example in the Duty to Assist.

[styky]

<a href=http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/report/orp/2007/ef-fe/ef-fe04_e.asp>Exhibit III-1

Summary characteristics of foundations

</a>

[Darren]

You'd be missing the fact that it could make the Libs look even more corrupt than they are already. I don't know why we don't continue to hammer the Libs while they are down. The CPC and Canadians should still want to find out where the billions went. Where's our profeesional journalists and their desire to do investigative reporting to expose to Canadians the corruption of the LPC. Instead they have to go back to BM to try and taint conservatives. Once again the media show their bias toward socialism. Where our lost billions in tax dollars ended up should be a subject of great interest to all.

Boy, you ain't just whistlin' Dixie!! I flipped on the TV last night and almost gagged when I saw the Fifth Estate had some kind of expose piece on Karl Schreiber's $300,000.00 payment to Mulroney. So f'n what. They get a billion dollars of our money every year and that's the best they can do? When are all their crack investigative reporters going to find the missing $100 million from the AdScam mess? How about the HRDC job grants that totalled a billion and didn't create a single job?

Only been ten years on that file. Maybe after they help OJ catch the real killers ...

[styky]

<a href=http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/20050204xe02.html>Summary financial information on foundations, 1996-97 to 2003-04 </a>

<a href=http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/20050204ce.html#ch4hd4c>Accountability of Foundations </a>

[free_life2]

Watching this one.

Bump

[Dacre]

Only been ten years on that file. Maybe after they help OJ catch the real killers ...

That's about it Darren. Shameful. As far as the view from a "Newcomer" article goes I think that gtes interpreted as we're going to be too busy to investigate Liberal corruption. We don't have the staff or resources unless we are going after a conservative cause or person. The socialist bureaucrats will see to this. We all know who really runs the government.

[styky]

<a href=http://www.fin.gc.ca/toce/2005/accfound-e.html>Accountability of Foundations</a>

<a href=http://www.fin.gc.ca/toce/2005/sacmf-e.html>Selected Accountability Criteria for Major Foundations </a>

<a href=http://www.fin.gc.ca/toce/2005/accfound-e.html#GovtResp>Government Response to Recommendations in the Auditor General’s February 2005 Report: Chapter 4 "Accountability of Foundations" </a>

[styky]

Audit cites possible flaws in scholarship program

Jack Aubry
CanWest News Service; <a href=http://www.canada.com/cityguides/winnipeg/info/story.html?id=612a5f04-a61f-4de8-9579-64acbfd7c340&k=1591>Ottawa Citizen </a>


Monday, November 12, 2007


OTTAWA -- The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation was at risk of awarding bursaries to non-Canadians because some provinces were not conducting thorough screenings, internal audits of the foundation reveal.

Obtained by CanWest News Service through the Access to Information Act, the audits found that some provinces may have awarded money to ineligible candidates since it found that "citizenship and provincial residency are not fully validated against supporting documentation."

Along with non-citizens possibly receiving bursaries, the audits said it was possible that some recipients might be skirting the rules by applying and receiving money from two different provinces because of weak provincial residency checks in Newfoundland.

Conducted by Deloitte & Touche LLP, the 2005 internal audits of the bursaries being awarded in Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador found that insufficient checks on citizenship or provincial residency was creating the risk of ineligible recipients receiving funds.

The audit did not say for certain that any funds were inappropriately awarded or offer any estimate of the number of times it might have occurred. It merely identified where and how problems could occur.

Randolph Harrold, a manager of bursary programs at the foundation, said while "a rash" of ineligible recipients were not identified after the audits, the foundation has made sure the provinces improve their screening to eliminate the risk.

"The internal audit did mention potential areas of weakness in assessing the applicants' eligibility - particularly in relation to citizenship status," said Harrold.

"Few programs are 100-percent error free, and we and our partners are constantly looking for ways to improve eligibility checks."

The audits found that the provinces were verifying with the federal government the existence of the nine-digit Social Insurance Number (SIN) being provided by an applicant but were not taking the extra step of making sure that the number actually belonged to the applicant.

"Citizenship and residency within the province are not validated against supporting documentation. Rather, the assertions made by the student on the application form are relied upon," said the audit for Nova Scotia.

"Therefore, students who do not meet the merit criterion can be awarded a Millennium bursary."

Harrold said since the audit, most of the provinces are suing the federal government's SIN registry to verify the identity of the applicant and the foundation's board has accepted that the current risk for ineligible recipients is fairly low and acceptable.

He also said the Auditor General of Canada has conducted a thorough examination of the foundation since the internal audits, giving it passing marks in all areas. Harrold said Treasury Board also did a study of the agency that found it was "an effective instrument of public policy."

The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, created in 1998 as a legacy project under former prime minister Jean Chretien, gave $298 million in bursaries to 100,000 students in 2006. An additional $40 million was given to 20,000 people in under-represented groups, including low-income, rural and aboriginal students.

But the Conservative government may close the foundation in 2008-09 when its 10-year mandate runs out. Harrold said the foundation is meeting with senior officials in the federal government, including Human Resources and Social Minister Monte Solberg, to discuss its future.

"(Solberg) gave us a very good hearing. They know they need to do something because if we disappear, that will represent 20 percent of grant assistance that students receive," said Harrold.

Ottawa Citizen

[JOE HUEGLIN]

The Media were focused on the Government accounting for the what transpired with Afghan detainees. Correct?