AG turns spotlight on RCMP, G8/G20 summit cost
The auditor general's office finally releases a final report Thursday on the costs of the controversial G8 and G20 summits hosted by Canada last summer.
Acting auditor general John Wiersema will table the office's spring 2011 report in the House of Commons at 10 a.m. ET. It includes two highly anticipated chapters on last June's meetings in Huntsville, Ont., and Toronto, including a look at millions spent on projects in Conservative cabinet minister Tony Clement's Parry Sound-Muskoka riding.
The third chapter focuses on how the Department of National Defence developed a pension plan for its reserve force.
Wiersema, who was named to replace Sheila Fraser until a permanent successor for the retired auditor general is chosen, will also table the 2011 status report containing seven chapters.
One chapter that will stand out is on the performance of Health Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs and other departments in charge of managing programs to improve the lives of First Nations and Inuit people.
Another part of the report that could make an impact is an audit of four key services of the RCMP including its forensics laboratory and DNA data bank. Wiersema will report on police services as a whole and the approach the federal government uses to funding them.
The reports on the G8 and G20, however, will attract the most interest. The first chapter looks at the budgets, the funding requests and the expenditures for hosting the two meetings. Price tags for various aspects of the summits have been publicized before — more than $1 billion for security for example — but Thursday's report should paint a good overall picture of the total costs.
The auditor general will not be pronouncing, however, on the effectiveness of the summits, or "the merits" of the goods and services that the summit planners said they needed.
Draft report caused election campaign furor
The G20 meeting in Toronto was the scene of violent protests and resulted in the largest mass arrest of citizens in Canadian history. The Conservative government was highly criticized for its decision to hold the brief meeting in the downtown core of Canada's biggest city, and for the enormous costs of hosting the G8 and G20 meetings, which some critics say produced few results.
The second chapter of the spring report is on the controversial G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund, worth $50 million. The purpose of the fund according to the government was to help the Muskoka region prepare for the summit, make infrastructure upgrades since it was on display to foreign dignitaries and media, and provide a lasting legacy for the region.
Towns more than 100 kilometres away from the summit site benefited from the fund, which prompted opposition critics to call it a slush fund that was designed to help the local MP, Clement, get re-elected.
Draft versions of the chapter caused a stir when they were leaked to the media during the spring campaign. A draft written in January said the government allegedly misinformed Parliament to win approval for the fund and that it may have been illegal if MPs were misled. A February version of the report had removed the reference to Parliament being misled.
Fraser cautioned at the time that only the final version of her report would represent the findings of her audit.
The leaks of the drafts prompted widespread calls for the final report to be released early, but Fraser said the documents could only be tabled in the House of Commons.
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| Leaders pose for a G8 group photo session at Deerhurst Resort in Ontario, June 25, 2010. Infrastructure funding for the summit will be examined in the auditor general's report. |
The auditor general's office finally releases a final report Thursday on the costs of the controversial G8 and G20 summits hosted by Canada last summer.
Acting auditor general John Wiersema will table the office's spring 2011 report in the House of Commons at 10 a.m. ET. It includes two highly anticipated chapters on last June's meetings in Huntsville, Ont., and Toronto, including a look at millions spent on projects in Conservative cabinet minister Tony Clement's Parry Sound-Muskoka riding.
The third chapter focuses on how the Department of National Defence developed a pension plan for its reserve force.
Wiersema, who was named to replace Sheila Fraser until a permanent successor for the retired auditor general is chosen, will also table the 2011 status report containing seven chapters.
One chapter that will stand out is on the performance of Health Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs and other departments in charge of managing programs to improve the lives of First Nations and Inuit people.
Another part of the report that could make an impact is an audit of four key services of the RCMP including its forensics laboratory and DNA data bank. Wiersema will report on police services as a whole and the approach the federal government uses to funding them.
The reports on the G8 and G20, however, will attract the most interest. The first chapter looks at the budgets, the funding requests and the expenditures for hosting the two meetings. Price tags for various aspects of the summits have been publicized before — more than $1 billion for security for example — but Thursday's report should paint a good overall picture of the total costs.
The auditor general will not be pronouncing, however, on the effectiveness of the summits, or "the merits" of the goods and services that the summit planners said they needed.
Draft report caused election campaign furor
The G20 meeting in Toronto was the scene of violent protests and resulted in the largest mass arrest of citizens in Canadian history. The Conservative government was highly criticized for its decision to hold the brief meeting in the downtown core of Canada's biggest city, and for the enormous costs of hosting the G8 and G20 meetings, which some critics say produced few results.
The second chapter of the spring report is on the controversial G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund, worth $50 million. The purpose of the fund according to the government was to help the Muskoka region prepare for the summit, make infrastructure upgrades since it was on display to foreign dignitaries and media, and provide a lasting legacy for the region.
Towns more than 100 kilometres away from the summit site benefited from the fund, which prompted opposition critics to call it a slush fund that was designed to help the local MP, Clement, get re-elected.
Draft versions of the chapter caused a stir when they were leaked to the media during the spring campaign. A draft written in January said the government allegedly misinformed Parliament to win approval for the fund and that it may have been illegal if MPs were misled. A February version of the report had removed the reference to Parliament being misled.
Fraser cautioned at the time that only the final version of her report would represent the findings of her audit.
The leaks of the drafts prompted widespread calls for the final report to be released early, but Fraser said the documents could only be tabled in the House of Commons.
