Reality Check: The missing $3.1 billion – about those Public Accounts…

Yesterday, Conservative ministers Tony Clement and Jason Kenney said some strange things in the House of Commons about the $3.1 missing billions:

“All of the funds in question are accounted for in public documents presented to Parliament, including the Public Accounts.”
– Jason Kenney, House of Commons, May 6, 2013

“Mr. Speaker, the answers to the hon. member's questions are found in the public accounts and the estimates in the years 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.”
– Tony Clement, House of Commons, May 6, 2013

Not so fast.

Here’s what the Office of the Auditor General told Aaron Wherry of MacLean’s:

“The information reported annually in the public accounts was at an aggregate level and most of the PSAT spending was not separately reported as a distinct (or separate) line item. Furthermore, with over 10 years elapsing since the beginning of the PSAT program, much of that information is now archived and unavailable.”

Guess that’s not quite as clear as the Conservative ministers suggest.

Canadians deserve better.