Point of View 2-Book Bundle

Оглавление

Douglas L. Bland. Point of View 2-Book Bundle

Contents

Irresponsible Government

Foreword

INTRODUCTION

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

Notes

Time Bomb

FOREWORD

A NOTE TO THE READER

PREFACE

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

EPILOGUE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

NOTES

Copyright

Отрывок из книги

Contrast that to the present day. The idea of members of the governing party acting as any sort of effective check on the prime minister or Cabinet is so far removed from current practice that I doubt many Canadians could even imagine it. Nowadays, as Brent Rathgeber writes in this eloquent lament for what we have lost, they are more cheerleaders than watchdogs. They do not see their role as to hold government to account; indeed, they see themselves as part of it. They “show up at government funding announcements in their ridings,” he writes, “often with oversized novelty cheques (sometimes bearing the party logo) bragging and taking credit for the pork that has just been delivered.”

.....

But the worst example of a lack of financial accountability occurred in 2000, when an internal audit at Human Resources discovered that $1 billion in employment program grants could not be traced.[17] There was no paper trail to determine if the money was properly spent or if the promised jobs were created.

As the above examples painfully illustrate, although audits are invaluable in reconstructing a scandal, boondoggle, or misappropriation, they obviously cannot prevent misspending. Regardless, the Office of the Auditor General is essential in determining if proper accounts are being kept, if money is spent for the purpose stipulated by Parliament, if effective spending controls are in place, and if generally accepted accounting principles are being followed.

.....