Provincial
auditor’s report: “Flatlining” takes its toll
TORONTO – The annual
report of the Auditor General of Ontario, released
today, paints a picture of a public service badly
damaged by 13 years of cost-cutting, the Ontario Public
Service Employees Union says.
“Operating spending for
all ministries of the Ontario Public Service, not
counting transfers to other organizations, has been
slashed in the past and is flat-lined now,” said OPSEU
president Leah Casselman. “When a program like the OHIP
card program is 14 years behind schedule, it’s obvious
that something is profoundly wrong.”
Casselman said it is
“inconceivable” that managers of the province’s Child
Welfare Services Program discontinued their reviews of
service and financial data for Children’s Aid Societies
in 2005-06 for any reason other than cost-cutting.
“Measures to ensure
accountability – which the previous government liked to
call red tape – do not cost tax dollars, they save
them,” she said. “But to save tax dollars,
administration of public services must be adequately
funded.
“It is clear from this
auditor’s report that the funding for proper oversight
is just not there.”
Casselman said it is
“distressing and pathetic” that the government couldn’t
afford to keep its own buildings, managed by the Ontario
Realty Corporation, in a state of good repair.
“Building maintenance
that is deferred now only means one thing, and that is
higher repair costs down the road,” she said. “This
auditor’s report tells a tale of a government that is
not thinking of the longer term or the bigger picture.”
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For more information:
Randy Robinson (416)
448-7441; (416) 788-9134 (cell)
