Ottawa’s financial reports vague
Lack of disclosure creates risk, says budget officer
The federal government is spending less so far this fiscal year, but few departments and agencies are revealing where the savings are coming from, two reports say.
The Harper government has projected that spending will rise 1.5 per cent in 2011-12, but expenditures have actually fallen three percentage points over the first six months, parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page said in an analysis.
Ottawa’s fiscal year started April 1.
Some federal spending may be pushed back to the second half of the fiscal year. But what is being cut and the impact it has on Canadians is largely unknown because two-thirds of all departments aren’t providing adequate disclosure, Page said in another report.
Federal departments and agencies are supposed to file quarterly financial reports outlining their spending and operations. Page’s staff have been analyzing these reports to "keep the government’s feet to the fire" on whether they are following through on budget promises.
The analyses show that two-thirds of the departments and agencies did not explain in their second-quarter reports how they are meeting an across-the-board budget freeze.
The lack of disclosure "creates risk," Page said Wednesday.
"You don’t know how sustainable it is," he said, referring to government spending levels.
"We see year-over-year (spending) declines taking place in the first six months . . . but we don’t know how it’s being achieved effectively. From one-third of departments, we’re getting details. From two-thirds, we’re getting almost nothing."
A handful of departments were also singled out for a total of $4 billion more in federal cuts. Only about half of those departments adequately explained what they are doing to help reach the goal.
In the last round of the quarterly reports, nearly all departments failed to explain what they are doing to achieve government-imposed austerity measures.
The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency was one of the worst offenders, failing to meet all the standards set out in Page’s review.
In the second quarter, ACOA improved in some areas, but the agency’s explanations about its spending were still found to be too vague to be useful.
ACOA is cutting 42 jobs as it aims to cut costs by five per cent.
Page said the overall level of disclosure is improving but work still needs to be done.
"It raises fiscal risk — whether or not that lower spending track is sustainable. And it raises service-level risk because we don’t know how they’re going to achieve it. Where are they making those savings?"
Quarterly financial reports are a new measure for this fiscal year. They were the brainchild of Sen. Hugh Segal, a Conservative who wanted the Senate and House of Commons to better be able to monitor government departments.
The Harper government agreed, but it ended up bringing forward its own system with less-stringent reporting standards than Segal proposed.
Page said his goal is to increase the level of federal fiscal oversight in time for the 2012-13 budget, widely expected to be heavy on austerity measures.
Ottawa's Financial reports vague
Lack of disclosure creates risk, says budget officer
The federal government is spending less so far this fiscal year, but few departments and agencies are revealing where the savings are coming from, two reports say.
The Harper government has projected that spending will rise 1.5 per cent in 2011-12, but expenditures have actually fallen three percentage points over the first six months, parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page said in an analysis.
Ottawa’s fiscal year started April 1.
Some federal spending may be pushed back to the second half of the fiscal year. But what is being cut and the impact it has on Canadians is largely unknown because two-thirds of all departments aren’t providing adequate disclosure, Page said in another report.
Federal departments and agencies are supposed to file quarterly financial reports outlining their spending and operations. Page’s staff have been analyzing these reports to "keep the government’s feet to the fire" on whether they are following through on budget promises.
The analyses show that two-thirds of the departments and agencies did not explain in their second-quarter reports how they are meeting an across-the-board budget freeze.
The lack of disclosure "creates risk," Page said Wednesday.
"You don’t know how sustainable it is," he said, referring to government spending levels.
"We see year-over-year (spending) declines taking place in the first six months . . . but we don’t know how it’s being achieved effectively. From one-third of departments, we’re getting details. From two-thirds, we’re getting almost nothing."
A handful of departments were also singled out for a total of $4 billion more in federal cuts. Only about half of those departments adequately explained what they are doing to help reach the goal.
In the last round of the quarterly reports, nearly all departments failed to explain what they are doing to achieve government-imposed austerity measures.
The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency was one of the worst offenders, failing to meet all the standards set out in Page’s review.
In the second quarter, ACOA improved in some areas, but the agency’s explanations about its spending were still found to be too vague to be useful.
ACOA is cutting 42 jobs as it aims to cut costs by five per cent.
Page said the overall level of disclosure is improving but work still needs to be done.
"It raises fiscal risk — whether or not that lower spending track is sustainable. And it raises service-level risk because we don’t know how they’re going to achieve it. Where are they making those savings?"
Quarterly financial reports are a new measure for this fiscal year. They were the brainchild of Sen. Hugh Segal, a Conservative who wanted the Senate and House of Commons to better be able to monitor government departments.
The Harper government agreed, but it ended up bringing forward its own system with less-stringent reporting standards than Segal proposed.
Page said his goal is to increase the level of federal fiscal oversight in time for the 2012-13 budget, widely expected to be heavy on austerity measures.
Ottawa's Financial reports vague