Another day, another boondoggle story. Another question period, another stonewalling performance from Human Resources Minister Jane Stewart. Repeat tomorrow. It's like the movie Groundhog Day, except the movie didn't cost taxpayers millions, if not billions of dollars.
To recap, an internal HRDC audit of 459 files across seven program areas pointed to serious problems (read: gross financial mismanagement) within the department. The audit found:
- 97 per cent of all files lacked background checks.
- 80 per cent showed no evidence of financial monitoring.
- 72 per cent had no cash flow forecast.
- 25 per cent had no description of what the money was going to support.
- 15 per cent of grant recipients didn't even have an application in their files.
Indeed, 37 of these 459 files revealed serious problems. Overpayments, expense claims that don't qualify, and organizations that didn't maintain proper records, yet millions of dollars continued to flow.
Here are five simple questions for Ms. Stewart.
Q: Minister, is this audit representative of the administration of 30,000 plus annual job creation grants run by HRDC which tally between $1 billion and $3 billion a year?
This is the question that neither the Minister nor her officials will answer. It has been asked repeatedly, yet all involved are incapable of responding with a simple yes or no.
Q: The Minister saw the audit results on Nov. 17 and reportedly "hit the roof." If she was so upset, why did HRDC continue to spend millions?
The opposition has revealed that in the 24 hours after Nov. 17, Ms. Stewart signed off on six HRDC job grant projects totaling close to $1 million.
Q: Job grants are supposed to help small and mid-sized companies in economically depressed areas, so why did retailing giant Wal-Mart get at least $500,000 to build a distribution outlet near Cornwall?
This just points to the absolute absurdity of so-called job creation programs. And we thought it was only Industry Canada that excelled at giving away tax dollars to poverty stricken multinational corporations.
Q: Why did Transitional Jobs Funding (TJF) funding spike just before and during the 1997 campaign?
Of the $281 million squandered in the TJF program from 1996 to 1999, a plurality of projects were approved or spent in the run-up to and during the 1997 federal election. Quebec received the most funding, followed by Newfoundland then Ontario. This was nothing more than a crass attempt to buy votes. The Liberals will trot out stats to show spending in opposition ridings, but what people fail to realize is that these are mostly swing ridings where the Liberals were in tough fights.
Q: Why does the government show no remorse or contrition?
The Liberals believe they have done nothing wrong. Look at their smiles and laughter during question period; mismanagement of tax dollars is mere sport for them. Public trust has evaporated in the last three weeks. When a government loses trust, it usually doesn't find it again -- just ask David Peterson, Bob Rae or Brian Mulroney.