The Waste Watch - Government waste federal and provincial

[styky]

Government credit card used at strip club
By HUGO RODRIGUES, QMI Agency



WOODSTOCK — In the midst of a Myrtle Beach, S.C., holiday, Warden Paul Holbrough pulled out his Oxford County credit card and used it to pay for over $780 in two separate transactions at a strip club.

Holbrough admitted his error in a Monday interview, saying he was having troubles with his personal credit card so decided to use his Oxford County one. The charges were invoiced back to Holbrough on May 25.

According to Oxford’s policy, personal purchases are strictly prohibited on county credit cards.

The warden’s monthly statement for May 2010, obtained by QMI Agency through a Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act request, shows two charges on May 10 and May 11 billed from “Dog Leg Left” in North Myrtle Beach, S.C.

When asked about the charge Monday, Holbrough initially claimed it came from golfing charges.

“I don’t even know which one it was … it was a corporate deal,” Holbrough said. “(We) golfed in groupings of different golf courses. That’s how they work down there.”

The charges — $380 US on May 10 and $370 US on May 11 for a total of $789.15 — were actually billed at the Myrtle Beach Crazy Horse Saloon and Restaurant, an adult entertainment club.

An employee at the club confirmed in a Thursday phone call that charges at the club are posted as Dog Leg Left on credit card statements.

When challenged on the true origin of the charges, Holbrough said he was on personal time and reiterated that, upon his return, he immediately disclosed personal use of the corporate credit card to county treasurer Lynn Buchner and was invoiced for the charges.

“I was there for 20 minutes one day. I’m not sure where you’re going to go with that,” Holbrough said. “They’re not all my charges, and besides I was on personal time and I had an issue and I had to pay for it. …

“I admitted it as soon as I got home — the day I got home. You can qualify that with the CAO (Mike Bragg) and the treasurer. I was invoiced on an invoice dated May 25, I believe. So it’s not like I didn’t pay for it. The county is not paying for anything that should not have been paid for.”

Buchner provided a copy of the warden’s credit card acknowledgement form, clearly stating personal purchases are strictly prohibited and that the card is exclusively for the use of the warden, “limited to expenses incurred to perform the role of warden of the County of Oxford.”

Holbrough signed the form Nov. 27, 2009.

Buchner also confirmed Monday afternoon that Holbrough did pay back the $789.15 he was invoiced.

Holbrough said he knew it was the wrong credit card to use, reiterating his personal cards weren’t working. He said he didn’t know if it was the security chip in his card or what was the matter.

“Should I have used it? Probably not. You have to pay a bill,” Holbrough said. “As I say, I was on personal time, I dealt with accordingly when I came back and it’s been rectified. To me it’s end of story, non-story.”
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2010/ ... 59526.html

[styky]

Scrap language bonuses: critic

By LAURA PAYTON, Parliamentary Bureau
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2 ... 59206.html
Last Updated: July 19, 2010 5:31pm

OTTAWA - Bilingualism bonuses for public servants cost taxpayers $72 million a year, newly released government memos show.

More than 90,000 people qualified for the $800 a year bonus last year.

Two-thirds of people getting it work in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.

The size of the bonus hasn't changed since it was created in 1972, but more people get it now than ever before.

The head of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says the bonus rewards people for having a skill they're supposed to have.

“It's like paying an engineer a bonus for having an engineering degree,” Gaudet said, adding getting rid of the bonus would be one way to start whittling down the government's deficit.

A spokeswoman for the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents 172,000 bureaucrats, says the bonus is a token acknowledgement of civil servants' abilities that works out to about $30 per paycheque. She says it's still not easy to learn a second language.

“I think it's money well-spent for the employer to be able to provide those services to people,” said Patty Ducharme.

“The question is do we want to be a bilingual country or not? That's what this is really about.”

Am I the only one that finds this insane.

[centrestage]

Scrap language bonuses: critic

By LAURA PAYTON, Parliamentary Bureau
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2 ... 59206.html
Last Updated: July 19, 2010 5:31pm

OTTAWA - Bilingualism bonuses for public servants cost taxpayers $72 million a year, newly released government memos show.

More than 90,000 people qualified for the $800 a year bonus last year.

Two-thirds of people getting it work in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.

The size of the bonus hasn't changed since it was created in 1972, but more people get it now than ever before.

The head of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says the bonus rewards people for having a skill they're supposed to have.

“It's like paying an engineer a bonus for having an engineering degree,” Gaudet said, adding getting rid of the bonus would be one way to start whittling down the government's deficit.

A spokeswoman for the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents 172,000 bureaucrats, says the bonus is a token acknowledgement of civil servants' abilities that works out to about $30 per paycheque. She says it's still not easy to learn a second language.

“I think it's money well-spent for the employer to be able to provide those services to people,” said Patty Ducharme.

“The question is do we want to be a bilingual country or not? That's what this is really about.”

Am I the only one that finds this insane.

I find this insane but obviously the left leaning French ass kissing Harper doesnt.

www.languagefairness.ca/

[styky]

'Terrorist love-in' taxes tax fighter's patience
Tax dollar's shouldn't pay for pay about Toronto 18 member, federation says
By DON PEAT, QMI Agency
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2010 ... 89161.html
'Sympathetic' terrorist play gets boost


TORONTO - The Canadian Taxpayers Federation isn’t shouting encore upon learning tax dollars are helping the curtain go up on a “sympathetic portrayal” of a convicted member of the Toronto 18.

As the Toronto Sun reported Saturday, Homegrown — the autobiographical play chronicling a lawyer/writer’s year and a half worth of visits with Shareef Abdelhaleem while he awaits his trial — is part of this year’s SummerWorks Theatre Festival.

The festival receives more than $90,000 from all three levels of government including $35,000 from Heritage Canada. Homegrown received $6,000 from the city funded Toronto Arts Council for a workshop.

The play’s writer, Catherine Frid, stressed Friday that the play isn’t condoning terrorism but is a “sympathetic portrait” of one of the men caught up in the terror bust.

“Homegrown does not promote, sanction or excuse terrorism. It looks at one of the men convicted of terrorism and points out some of the many irregularities in the Canadian criminal justice system that led to his conviction” she said.

But Kevin Gaudet, of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said tax dollars shouldn’t be going towards a “terrorist love-in”.

“You want to put on a play? Fine. Hang up your shingle and ask people to pay for it ... and if it has to do with sympathetic portraits of terrorists who want to destroy my country, I won’t go,” Gaudet said.

The federation objects to funding for all festivals from Pride Toronto to the Calgary Stampede, he said.

“We advocate against all this type of funding in that context,” Gaudet said.

SummerWorks artistic producer Michael Rubenfeld said Friday that the play gives audiences the opportunity to hear Abdelhaleem’s story and share his perspective.

“I would say it gives a fair portrait of Shareef, the play in no way tries to tell audiences that he was guilty or innocent, it just gives a perspective that is his and probably more sympathetic than we’re used to hearing,” Rubenfeld said.

“In no way does it support terrorism.” Tax money is well-spent on the play, he said.

“His story is so relevant to this city ... so the opportunity to continue to explore what has gone on with the Toronto 18, I think it is exactly where money should be going,” Rubenfeld said.

Claire Hopkinson, executive director of the Toronto Arts Council, said the money to SummerWorks is for a full envelope of activities and was granted before the whole operating lineup of the festival was known.

“However I don’t want to distance myself from what they program,” Hopkinson said.

“We have high regard for Michael Rubenfeld and SummerWorks artistic choices. We know that they are a festival really specifically designed to encourage risk.”

A spokesman for Canadian Heritage said Saturday the department has supported SummerWorks financially since 2006.

The festival was granted $45,000 for 2010-2011 including $35,000 in base funding and $10,000 for community engagement.

The funding was granted through the department’s Canada Arts Presentation Fund “therefore no conditions are stipulated,” the spokesman stated.

“Funding for SummerWorks from the Department of Canadian Heritage is not for content or for any specific programming,” she wrote. “Funding is awarded for a festival series as a whole, a year in advance of when the festival line-up has been established.

“All recipients of funding through CAPF make independent programming decisions.”

[styky]

ACOA write-off $38.8 million

Published on July 31st, 2010

<a href=http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2010-07-31/article-1639841/ACOA-write-off-%2438.8-million--/1>source</a>
Agency helped finance everything from gourmet dog treats to acoustic guitars

In the past decade, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) has written off $38.8 million in loans in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Topics :
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency , The Telegram , Consilient Technologies , Newfoundland Inc.-True North Springs , Newfoundland and Labrador , New York.But

In the past decade, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) has written off $38.8 million in loans in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The loans were written off under the agency’s business development commercial lending program.

The money was paid out to 190 clients and involved 264 different projects — everything from gourmet dog biscuits to cod farming to multimedia ventures.

Money also went to wildlife museums, guitars, lumber, plastics, marble, bottled water, inns, resorts and outfitters, tours, mouldings, storage, bait and dairies, to name a few.

The companies that ACOA took legal action against had defaulted on $18.4 million owed to the agency, according to a tally prepared for The Telegram by ACOA.

Eighty per cent of that amount — or $14.8 million — is included in the $38.8 million that was written off over the decade. ACOA is still working to recover the rest.

The total loaned out in this province over the past decade was $222 million to 700 businesses. Those businesses also raised another $500 million from provincial governments, private investors, banks and their own pockets. Of the $222 million, some $97.3 million has been repaid.

“I have no regrets whatsoever. It’s done well for us." - Jerry White

Of loans written off or defaulted on, ACOA’s recovery unit has managed to get back $2.36 million.

ACOA did not reveal who has paid back what.

The biggest amount awarded in default judgements after ACOA statements of claim in this province was nearly $7.7 million to Consilient Technologies Corp., followed by $1.6 million to Wood Products Industries Ltd.; $1.2 million to 10619 Newfoundland Inc.-True North Springs; $1.2 million to Griffiths Guitars International Ltd.; and $1.17 million to Genesis Organic Inc.

Peter O’Brien, a former vice-president Atlantic of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and a retired business commentator, said ACOA isn’t getting back what it should.

“Quite frankly, that’s high,” he said of the more than $38.8 million written off.
“There’s a fair amount of political interference into the way the loans were given. That’s not new. That’s traditional. Unfortunately, people in an agency like the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency are influenced almost too much by their political masters.”

To have greater success, O’Brien said ACOA should operate more at arm’s length.

He acknowledged ACOA has supported successful ventures, but quipped, “I could close my eyes and throw darts at a dart board and eventually I’d hit a bull’s eye.”

O’Brien said because the process of awarding funding is not as apolitical as it should be, “loans are given out knowing damn well they will never get them back.”

Still, he said, regional development agencies across the country are no better.

O’Brien said the only problem is that the image surrounding economic development in the Atlantic region — because of its have-not history — suffers when things go awry.

ACOA loans are unsecured and interest-free.

Straight business grants were discontinued in 1995, although smaller grants were awarded for technology and lately, for productivity and business skills.

But ACOA spokesman Doug Burgess pointed out that none of the projects ACOA helps through its business development lending arm receive 100 per cent funding.

He said on average, ACOA gives the green light to about half the proposals it receives, but the loans generally represent less than a third of a project’s total costs. ACOA’s current loan portfolio is $86 million, involving 600 projects.

“Chartered banks will often come onboard with a project after ACOA has done a business case analysis providing an element of the funding,” he said.

The agency does not always pursue court action to recover defaulted loans, which is evident since the court judgments represent only half of what’s been written off.

ACOA often files the claims to prevent future tax writeoffs when the business is sold to a profitable company.

Between April 1, 2000 and March 31 of this year, ACOA filed 54 statements of claim. Some of them are still before the courts, or did not continue.

For clients who had a statement of claim filed against them, ACOA has recouped $1.07 million, with legal costs tallying $215,599 over the decade.

It also recovered $1.29 million in defaulted or written off loans through compromise settlements with clients or though a memorandum of understanding it has with the Canada Revenue Agency to access tax refunds, Burgess said.

The court actions contrast with the glowing announcements made when the companies were initially funded.

The west coast Genesis Organic Inc., for which ACOA was awarded a judgment of nearly $1.2 million on unpaid loans in 2005, was celebrated in a 1999 ACOA news release as tapping into a growing demand for environmentally friendly gardening products.

It had been transforming soft-wood bark from Corner Brook Pulp and Paper and fish waste from local fish plants into a nutrient-rich organic compost.

The dog8it! Inc., a gourmet dog biscuit company, was heralded by both the province and ACOA back in the day.

"Thedog8it! Inc. is a fine example of the entrepreneurial spirit that exists in Newfoundland and Labrador," said George Sweeney, then parliamentary secretary to Industry, Trade and Rural Development in a 2002 news release from the then Liberal government during a trade mission to New York.

But the company is now defunct and ACOA was awarded a judgment of nearly $156,000.

Again, ACOA has not revealed the amounts that any of the companies targeted with statements of claim have paid.

Consilient Technologies, the defunct St. John’s software company, was ordered to pay almost $7.7 million plus interest and costs to ACOA.

On Nov. 18, 2008, the privately held Consilient was taken over by one of its lenders, Toronto-based Quorum Capital.

At the time, Consilient’s then-president and CEO said the company was working on a restructuring plan and expected the company would continue to be based in St. John’s. Days later, Consilient closed its doors.

Griffiths Guitars International Ltd. was taken to court for nearly $1.2 million.

The company, which was established in 1999 by Chris Griffiths, touted a patented invention known as the active bracing system — a one-piece, composite brace that resembled a guitar skeleton.

Nearly a decade later, the company was sold to Nashville-based Gibson Guitar company for just under $1 million, after having entered voluntary receivership.

A factory producing the guitars in Mount Pearl closed last year and the instruments were sold off in the local market, according to a former employee.

The company 10619 Newfoundland Inc.-True North Springs was taken to court for $1.26 million owed to ACOA.

That bottled water brand was the subject of a legal dispute over the name which ended in victory for McCurdy Enterprises Ltd. of Gander.

McCurdy bought the assets of the defunct True North Springs Ltd. in 2004.

McCurdy owner Jerry White, once involved in an unsuccessful plan to export water in bulk from Gisbourne Lake, said the statement of claim is against the former owner of True North and he’s been able to resurrect the brand.

It is marketed in this province and New England.

White, who insists he’s never taken a dollar of government money, said True North could have been successful from the beginning and blamed its original failure on bad management, pure and simple.

“What it was was no management. It is working now, since I got a hold of it. It certainly could have worked the first time. There was the wrong people there managing it,” White said.

True North was shut down for two years after White first bought the assets, but now has 10 or 11 employees.

“I have no regrets whatsoever. It’s done well for us,” White said.

He doesn’t think much of ACOA’s collection record.

“No boy, that is still pretty heavy duty,” he said of the amount written off.

[styky]

Performance pay for senior bureaucrats up sharply, even as bonuses are slashed
Overall compensation packages rise 19%, as Ottawa cuts with one hand and tops up with the other
Bill Curry

Ottawa — From Friday's Globe and Mail Published on Thursday, Aug. 12, 2010 9:09PM EDT

The Conservative government added millions of dollars in performance pay for public service executives during the recession even as it pledged to slash bonuses in the face of hard times.

Briefing notes to Treasury Board President Stockwell Day obtained through Access to Information reveal the minister in charge of finding billions in federal savings is taking a very close look at why Ottawa’s management tab keeps going up.

The government promised in June, 2009 to cut bonuses by 70 per cent – a target it eventually succeeded in meeting when the final numbers came in earlier this year.

However, in the technical jargon of the federal bureaucracy, “bonus” pay is only a small part of what many would consider to be a bonus – namely, an extra lump-sum payment at the end of the year based on performance. In addition to bonus pay, executives in the federal government also qualify for a much larger amount of performance pay over and above their salaries called “at-risk” pay, and those payouts are on the rise.

When the two forms of pay are combined, spending on performance pay for executives was $70.1-million in 2008-2009, a 19-per-cent increase from the year before, according to a February briefing note to Mr. Day from Daphne Meredith, the government’s chief human resources officer.

“Clearly the government was very careful in the language they used,” said Christopher Chen, a private-sector compensation consultant at Hay Group in Toronto. “And they followed through exactly to the letter of their own definition of bonus.”

While most private employers have a similar concept of at-risk pay that is often referred to as incentive pay, he said most workers still call these payouts a bonus.

“When people hear bonus, they will likely think it’s going to be anything you get that isn’t part of your salary, paid out annually,” he said. “That’s just how people think. A bonus is a bonus.”

The Globe has also learned that Mr. Day’s office is sitting on an advisory report that warns him not to scrimp on salaries over the long term for fear of losing top talent to the private sector.

For the past decade, Ottawa has largely set its salary and bonus rates based on the advice of an annual report from the Advisory Committee on Senior Level Retention and Compensation, led by Carol Stephenson, the dean of the Richard Ivey School of Business.

However, this year’s report was submitted a month ago and hasn’t been posted online.

“We haven’t had a response yet,” Ms. Stephenson said in an interview. She expressed hope that Ottawa will not bring in a multiyear freeze on executive pay, as was done during cutbacks in the 1990s. “I would hate to see something like that again if that’s not what’s going on in the market, because it becomes so difficult to catch up.”

The memo on performance pay says the increase is partly due to a rise in the number of executives, but also because the maximum at-risk pay rate was increased last year from 16.4 per cent to 20 per cent over and above the base salary for senior executives. In contrast, the maximum bonus pay remained at 6 per cent.

Melisa Leclerc, a spokesperson for Mr. Day, repeated these reasons and said the Stephenson report will be posted in the coming weeks. She also said the government is in the process of reviewing how bonuses are managed. While she acknowledged she sometimes makes reference to “at-risk bonuses,” she said it is not a bonus.

“It is called at-risk as an [executive] is at risk of losing it if he/she does not meet expectations,” she wrote in an e-mail. “Bonus pay is awarded to those who surpass expectations.”

Government data show that 94 per cent of the 5,765 executives received at least some at-risk pay, while only 14 per cent received a bonus.

A separate six-page memo created at Mr. Day’s request shows that while employment in the core public service is up 13 per cent since 2006 and 28 per cent since 2001, the executive ranks are up 21 per cent since 2006 and 56 per cent since 2001.

Ms. Meredith’s note to the minister says there are a number of reasons for this, including a shift to more “knowledge-based workers.” She also said extra managers were brought in over the years because of Y2K, the 2003 SARS outbreak, the Gomery inquiry, the Federal Accountability Act, climate change, food safety, anti-terrorism programs, the G8 and G20, native health and recession-triggered stimulus programs.

“Each of these new initiatives or expanded mandates has required a new or enhanced management role,” it states.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... le1671378/

[styky]

Tasha Kheiriddin: Corporate welfare not repaid, bureaucrats unrepentant
August 23, 2010 – 11:25 am

And the pork barrel fills again….

Back in April of this year, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy released a report chronicling the abysmal loan repayment record of Industry Canada. The report found that since 1982,

Read more: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... z0xWn33dUc

[styky]

RCMP paid suspension costs taxpayers millions

Officers even get annual pay raises

By ETHAN BARON, Postmedia News September 14, 2010

Mountie Trent Richards used his red serge uniform and "hot cop" cachet to entice women into having sex with him while he was on the job.

Ordered to resign for engaging in on-duty sex on 15 or 16 occasions, the Vancouver Island officer appealed the ruling. He has been receiving full pay since he was suspended in January 2007.

Richards is not alone. There are now 16 B.C. RCMP members on paid suspension for alleged misconduct.

Officers can remain suspended with pay for years -even receiving annual raises -as their cases go through internal-discipline and court processes.


Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/tod ... z0zVjs8pZA

[styky]

Consultants billed Ontario thousands for personal vacations and expenses: Auditor-General
KAREN HOWLETT
Toronto— Globe and Mail Update
Published Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010 1:39PM EDT
Last updated Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010 2:07PM EDT
A consultant earning $1,100 a day at a hospital in Ontario billed taxpayers $7,800 for airfare to Japan for his personal vacation. Another hospital consultant charged $400 a night for a hotel room and $500 in long-distance phone charges for a three-day business trip to Chicago.

These are among the questionable consulting expenses at a handful of hospitals outlined in a special report unveiled Wednesday by Jim McCarter, the province’s Auditor-General.<a href=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/consultants-billed-ontario-thousands-for-personal-vacations-and-expenses-auditor-general/article1765378/>continued</a>

[styky]

Pricey flights for PM's special envoy

By DOMINIQUE LA HAYE, QMI Agency

Last Updated: October 23, 2010 4:00am
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2 ... 96726.html
OTTAWA — In just under two years, the prime minister’s special envoy for La Francophonie racked up nearly $160,000 in travel expenses in Canada and abroad.

Canadian taxpayers dished out $95,645 in 2009 and $68,928 for the first eight months of 2010 as Jacques Bilodeau jetted between diplomatic events.

He spent $9,923 over six days hosting the secretary general of La Francophonie during the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

A year earlier, he racked up $2,678 for a two day meeting at UN headquarters in New York.

Bilodeau also logged six business class flights to Paris, each costing between $4,000 and $7,000. And last August, the tab for a one-day meeting with the former governor general was $1,308.

But Bilodeau, who lives in Quebec, maintains all his expenses are justified.

"The role of a diplomat is not to represent your country by staying in one place, but to be dynamic," he said in a phone interview from Switzerland, where he’s attending this year’s Francophonie summit.

"It's to go out a meet people for cooperative and political projects. We are entrusted with these missions."

Bilodeau was hired by Ottawa in April 2008. As the prime minister’s special envoy for the organization representing 70 French-language states and countries, he was also tasked with lobbying member countries to support Canada’s failed UN Security Council bid.

He criss-crossed the globe for that project, flying to Europe and Africa over the summer.

Bilodeau pointed out most of his expenses are related transport, mainly flights. But he couldn’t explain why his road trips between Ottawa and Quebec sometimes cost a few hundred dollars a pop.

His contract with the federal government ends when the Francophonie summit in Switzerland wraps up this week.

[styky]

Auditor reveals Liberal troubles

October 23, 2010
Editorial
http://news.guelphmercury.com/Opinions/ ... cle/708208
Ontario’s Ministry of Health has probably given Dalton McGuinty a health problem in the form of a headache. To be specific, the ministry has come under serious criticism from Auditor General Jim McCarter in a new report. And the news is as bad for McGuinty’s government as it is for this one department.

The auditor general concluded that there were too many examples of hospitals, local health networks and the Ministry of Health hiring consultants without proper tenders. He also thought the organizations were not monitoring the consultants’ fees well. He noted that one consultant, who earned $275,000 annually as a hospital executive, submitted a bill of $350 for dinner for three people, including a bar bill of $215.

McCarter describes a ministry in which public employees are operating in a deceptive manner. In some cases, he said, “It looked like there had been a competitive process, but it was very clear that there was a preferred vendor and that vendor was allowed to resubmit a bid even though they may have been the highest vendor.”

Surely that is deceptive. In lay language, the application process was rigged. Presumably, all the applicants thought they had a fair chance of applying for a contract, but the auditor says they didn’t. This is blatantly unfair both to the applicants and the taxpayers, who may well have paid more for some services than necessary.

How could McGuinty be anything but disappointed by the report? The premier knows that Ontario’s auditing office conducts research and draws conclusions in a non-partisan manner. He can’t dismiss the auditor’s conclusions the way he might toss aside criticism from the opposition parties as being biased.

But the government’s problems run deeper. McGuinty knows too well that the auditor’s latest criticism is very similar to the critical comments the auditor made about the ministry’s eHealth department last year. The improper use of consultants exposed by the auditor led to the resignation of former health minister David Caplan.

In other words, the auditor has found the same problems twice in the Health Ministry, which happens to be the ministry that spends more money than any other. Apparently, even the resignation of a minister isn’t enough to send a signal through the ministry that good accounting practices are mandatory, not just optional.

Health Minister Deb Matthews and Tom Closson, the chief executive officer of the Ontario Hospital Association, both understood the gravity of McCarter’s report. They immediately apologized.

“I’m not afraid to say I’m really sorry that this has gone on,” Matthews said. “I don’t think this is acceptable.” Matthews is right, and she is wise not to defend the undefensible.

But McGuinty, Matthews and the ministers in the Liberal government must realize that quite a few Ontarians might lose faith in the Liberals’ ability to run a government properly when they can’t learn from their mistakes. Now, the opposition parties merely need to quote Matthews’ apology when arguing for a change of government at Queen’s Park.

With the next election only a year away, the premier will have to work exceptionally hard to change the Health Ministry and perhaps other ministries as well. He’s going to have to find a way to change the culture of entitlement that seems to have crept into the Health Ministry and he’s going to have to make sure that taxpayers’ money is properly spent. Even if he can do this, he is still going to have to find a way to make sure voters know change has occurred.

If he fails in this double assignment, McGuinty might find that moderate, middle-of-the-road voters will switch their votes from the Liberals to other parties.

[styky]

Watchdog agencies barely working

By ALTHIA RAJ AND LAURA PAYTON, Parliamentary Bureau

Last Updated: November 3, 2010 10:36pm



OTTAWA — At least two small government agencies spent nearly half their budgets, despite doing little or no work recently released figures show.

The federal government dumped hundreds of pages of reports outlining the performance of its departments and agencies late Wednesday.

The Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal Canada, a tribunal made of federal court justices which is responsible for hearing complaints of reprisals by government whistleblowers, reported it spent less than 50% of its budget last year and did not hear a single case.

In fact, since its inception in 2007, the Tribunal has not heard any cases. That’s because the federal government’s whistleblower watchdog, Christiane Ouimet who resigned suddenly last month, did not refer a single case to the Tribunal, having found no instances of wrongdoing in her three years in office.

Despite having no workload, the Tribunal, which is assisted by a “registry,” managed to spend $835,000 of its $1,8 million budget and kept a staff of four. Still, the office notes, that “should a case be referred to the Tribunal, the registry may not have the staff needed to support the members.”

Health Canada’s assisted human reproduction agency also managed to spend a little more than half of what was allocated, $5.2 million of its $10.5 million budget. Although thirteen staffers are charged with writing laws dealing with issues such as banning human cloning and the sale of sperm and eggs, the agency did not release any regulations last year while the government waited for a Supreme Court ruling on whether the agency is constitutional.

Meanwhile, Canada’s electronic spy service’s watchdog, the Office of the Communications Security Establishment Commissioner, raised alarms in its report that it doesn’t have the funds required to watch over the super secret and constantly-expanding Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) to ensure it isn’t breaking the law.

The office’s $1.5 million is paltry next to the Establishment’s $329.8 million budget, which has increased continuously since 9/11, current commissioner Robert Decary notes.

The unexpected death of the former commissioner last year set the office back, making it unable to fulfill its legal obligation to table an annual report and resulted in only two reviews of CSEC’s actions, both of which found there was no significant areas of potential non-compliance with the law.

The Commissioner said it needs the government to clarify "ambiguities" related to ministerial authorization for foreign intelligence, and it needs additional office space in which to perform its highly classified reviews so that it can do its job of ensuring Defence Minister Peter MacKay that the public’s rights aren’t being violated by the cryptologic agency.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2 ... 51621.html

[styky]

Niagara Parks Commission executive charged $395,000 on corporate card
ANTHONY REINHART
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010 5:57AM EST
As Canada’s busiest publicly owned tourist attraction took a multiyear dive into unprecedented financial losses, its top executive in charge of bringing in revenue spent nearly $400,000 on flights, high-end hotels and pricey restaurants between 2006 and 2009, a Globe and Mail investigation has found.

Joel Noden, who left his $130,000-a-year job at the Niagara Parks Commission on Nov. 9 amid questions about an untendered publishing contract, was clearly not shy with his corporate MasterCard, according to monthly statements obtained through a freedom-of-information request.

Less clear is who approved the expenses at the Ontario government agency. Mr. Noden’s former boss and the agency’s corporate services director each say the other was responsible.

The expense records, which took several months and $1,800 in processing fees for The Globe to obtain, have surfaced in a frosty climate around public-sector spending. Ontario’s Liberal government has struggled to contain expense scandals at other agencies, and Toronto voters have elected a new mayor, Rob Ford, on promises to “stop the gravy train” at city hall. In Ottawa, the Conservatives have moved to slash employee perks and trim the federal bureaucracy in line with private-sector restraint in a slowly recovering economy.

As Niagara’s parks suffered a steep decline in visits from Americans, Mr. Noden jetted to Asia, the Middle East, the United States and Mexico, charging $395,751 to his corporate credit card between October, 2006, and October, 2009. Among hundreds of transactions were an $1,800 nightclub tab, a $199 liquor-store purchase, plane fares worth $9,665 each and a $10,729 hotel stay in London, England.

In the same period, the Crown agency reimbursed Mr. Noden for $23,950 in out-of-pocket expenses from roller-coaster rides in Las Vegas to health supplements in Korea to a pound of Starbucks coffee in Niagara Falls, which he claimed as a meal.

Errors in these out-of-pocket entries, including a duplicate claim for U.S. currency, appeared to work in Mr. Noden’s favour to the tune of more than $800.

The Globe has not yet received copies of the receipts Mr. Noden submitted to support his credit-card purchases, and the statements do not say who he was entertaining or for what purpose related to his parks position. Mr. Noden paid roughly $1,500 back to the agency over the three-year period, or 0.38 per cent of what he spent, parks officials said. Repeated attempts to reach Mr. Noden for comment have been unsuccessful.

Niagara’s policy when Mr. Noden made his purchases stated that expenses had to be “modest and appropriate” and that “the most practical and economical arrangements for travel, meals, accommodation and hospitality must be made.” But it also granted broad leeway to managers to make exceptions “on a case-by-case basis.”

John Kernahan, the agency’s general manager and top bureaucrat, had authority as Mr. Noden’s boss to approve his travel plans and expenses, but said he delegated that authority “years ago” to the agency’s corporate services director, a position equal to Mr. Noden’s in the corporate hierarchy.

“They didn’t ever come across my desk,” Mr. Kernahan said of the MasterCard bills, referring questions to Robert McIlveen, the current corporate services director. “I don’t think I’ve signed Joel’s expense accounts in years.”

Mr. McIlveen disputed Mr. Kernahan’s claim and cited the commission’s policy on corporate credit cards, signed by Mr. Kernahan himself, which says credit card statements “shall be approved by the general manager upon review by the executive director, corporate services or designate.”

“I can’t approve them,” Mr. McIlveen said. “It wouldn’t be good governance practice.”

Fay Booker, chairwoman of the commission’s publicly appointed governing board, was incredulous when told of Mr. Kernahan’s comments.

“John Kernahan is Joel Noden’s boss; it’s the person’s boss who is responsible to approve the expenses of their subordinate,” Ms. Booker said. “So did the general manager just say he shirked his responsibilities?” <a href=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/niagara-parks-commission-executive-charged-395000-on-corporate-card/article1800492/page2/>continued</a>

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Health Canada’s assisted human reproduction agency also managed to spend a little more than half of what was allocated, $5.2 million of its $10.5 million budget. Although thirteen staffers are charged with writing laws dealing with issues such as banning human cloning and the sale of sperm and eggs, the agency did not release any regulations last year while the government waited for a Supreme Court ruling on whether the agency is constitutional.

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Government officials may get iPads
By Mathieu Turbide, QMI Agency


Federal bureaucrats may be given iPads to cut down on paper and printing costs. (HO)

MONTREAL - The federal government is mulling offering iPads to bureaucrats to cut down on paper and printing costs.

In fact, about 20 treasury board workers are already using the high-tech device as part of a pilot project, QMI Agency has learned.

The senior officials, including several deputy ministers, have been using the Apple tablet computer since the fall.

The cost of the project is $23,500.

The officials argue the gadget could save hundreds of dollars a year in paper and printing costs for each staff member equipped with the device.

“According to a conservative estimate, the use of the iPad could save about $700 per person per year,” said treasury board spokesman Pierre-Alain Bujold. <a href=http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2010/12/19/16611261.html>keep reading</a>