As usual, there has been quite a hubbub surrounding this week’s release of British Columbia’s Public Accounts. The provincial auditor says the provincial deficit is $520 million more than the government admits. And then there is the Auditor General’s review of finances at the legislature that found “substantial irregularities.” But all of the above is [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Auditor General'
The staggering future costs of the BC government’s contracts
July 27th, 2012 · Keith Reynolds · Comments Off · Energy, Privatization, P3s & public services, Provincial budget & finance
Tax haven based company buys more BC P3s: British Auditor General questions profits in such transactions
February 14th, 2012 · Keith Reynolds · Comments Off · Privatization, P3s & public services
Two of British Columbia’s public private partnership (P3) projects have changed hands again and once again the new owner resides in a European tax haven. In a separate but related development, last Friday Britain’s Auditor General released a report questioning very high level of profits for some British P3 projects partially generated by flipping the [...]
Tags: Auditor General·Bilfinger Berger·Golden Ears·Kicking Horse Canyon·P3·tax haven
New Brunswick Auditor General latest to blast public private partnerships
January 15th, 2012 · Keith Reynolds · Comments Off · Privatization, P3s & public services
One more provincial Auditor General has come out swinging at public private partnerships (P3s). Last week New Brunswick’s AG released a report on two P3 schools that had been announced by the NB government in 2008. New Brunswick Auditor General Kim MacPherson joins public auditors in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia who have [...]
What’s behind the push for a municipal auditor general?
August 12th, 2011 · Keith Reynolds · 1 Comment · Taxes, Transparency & accountability
The call for the creation of an Auditor General for BC’s municipalities almost seems like a “no-brainer,” doesn’t it? Charlie Smith had a good article in the Georgia Straight outlining reasons why a municipal AG would be a good idea. Some people, in some municipalities have had problems with transparency. And while the Province does [...]
British Columbia Auditor finds costly failings in Province’s first hospital P3
May 23rd, 2011 · Keith Reynolds · 3 Comments · Privatization, P3s & public services, Transparency & accountability
A new report by British Columbia’s Auditor General has debunked nearly every benefit claimed so far for public private partnerships (P3s). The Auditor General’s report on a Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCHA) project adds to earlier criticisms by his counterparts about failings in P3 hospital projects in Quebec and Ontario. The BC report, released on [...]
Auditor has reservations about the government’s books
November 2nd, 2010 · Keith Reynolds · Comments Off · Provincial budget & finance, Transparency & accountability
For two years in a row BC’s Auditor General has placed reservations on his report that looks at the Province’s finances as set out in the Public Accounts. This means that the AG disagrees with the way the province is keeping its books on three different issues. He also presents other ideas on what the [...]
Quebec Auditor General slams P3s in hospital project
June 11th, 2010 · Keith Reynolds · Comments Off · Privatization, P3s & public services, Transparency & accountability
Quebec’s Auditor General has issued yet one more report slamming the use of public private partnerships (P3s). With P3s, private corporations finance and operate public facilities and services. The money they invest is more costly than money borrowed publicly. It is paid back to them, along with profits for the corporation, by governments over multi-decade contracts. [...]
Legislative watch dogs get “reviewed.” Is there a leash in their future?
April 8th, 2010 · Keith Reynolds · 2 Comments · Transparency & accountability
For some reason it makes me nervous when I hear that people who sometimes make life difficult for the government are being “reviewed.” And it makes me even more nervous when it is happening completely in the shadows. On March 3rd the Speaker of BC’s Legislature announced the creation of a panel to review the [...]
Tags: Auditor General·Children and Youth·Legislative Officers·Legislature
