Auditor General’s Report: Conservatives putting Canadians’ lives at risk

Numerous flaws persist in department management, including National Defence and Canada Revenue Agency

OTTAWA – Conservatives have let search and rescue deteriorate to the point that Canadians’ lives are at risk. The Auditor General’s lengthy document also identifies serious gaps in government performance and monitoring, resulting in the loss of $29 billion in unpaid taxes and unaccounted expenditure of $3.1 billion in anti-terror funding.

“Conservatives haven’t listened to past recommendations. There is still no plan to create a record of the First Nations residential school system, search and rescue services and equipment are outdated and we now have 29 billion dollars in unpaid taxes,” said Malcolm Allen (Welland).

In his report published today, the auditor general revealed that many departments lack proper documentation when awarding contracts as well as information on program spending in the public safety sector. We also learned that the government has misplaced some 3.1 billion dollars for public safety and antiterrorism initiatives.

“It’s disturbing to see that nearly a third of documented contracts containing security requirements were either incomplete or missing,” said Nycole Turmel (Hull-Aylmer). “Canadians deserve a government that ensures, for example, that airplanes used by the Royal Canadian Air Force are safe. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.”