IN MY OPINION

“Every day, millions of Canadians donate their talents, energy, and time in service to their communities. They vary in age, gender, income, education, race and ethnic background, but all volunteers share one thing in common — they want to improve the quality of life in their community”

The auditor general came down hard on the Tourism department in his annual report tabled in the legislature earlier this week. Colin Younker didn’t like Tourism P.E.I.’S contract management or lack thereof.

After a review of several departments and Crown corporations, he determined Tourism’s habit of not following the rules when handing out millions in contracts, to be his highest area of concern.

Younker outlined a lack of controls with regards to $4 million in contracts awarded annually in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

Three seemed to be the magic number for this department.

Younker identified nine cases where Treasury Board approval was required because contract values exceeded $100,000, but Tourism P.E.I. sought approval in only three. Eight contracts should have gone through a competitive tendering process, only three did. Another 21 required signatures of two senior managers, only three had them.

In the 31 contracts he examined, 17 had “significant deficiencies and of those 17, 12 had nothing at all in writing. These were contracts with values ranging from $10,000 to $92,000.

So it appears Department of Tourism officials were handing out taxpayers’ money in contracts, the terms of which were not fully documented, without going through a tendering process.

As Younker pointed out, not spelling out the terms of what the job entails and who was responsible for what, is risky. If there were issues down the road, government would not have a leg, or a detailed contract, to stand on.

“If there’s no documented contract, it’s difficult to enforce getting work done that you want to get done,” Younker told media.

Putting contracts through a tendering process helps ensure contracts are awarded fairly. Without the tendering process, there’s no way of knowing if the best company or person was hired at the best price. Was the job given to friends of the department staff or the minister, or was there a better deal to be found elsewhere? We’ll never know.

The Tourism minister’s response diminished the seriousness of the problems pointed out in the way his department was operating. Twice Robbie Henderson referred to those problems as “little.”

Media reports have Henderson saying, “The auditor general identified some little gaps and some of the issues around the contracts and services. Basically our department agrees with all the little details that weren’t followed and we’re implementing the process from this point on to make sure that those are followed.”

The lackadaisical way in which this department handed out public money without tendering, without approvals, without detailed contracts, should lead to questions about the minister’s capabilities.

If a cabinet shuffle is in the future for Robert Ghiz’s government, the minister of the department which ranked as the area of most concern for the auditor general, should be the first considered for a spot on the back bench. Every day, millions of Canadians donate their talents, energy, and time in service to their communities. They vary in age, gender, income, education, race and ethnic background, but all volunteers share one thing in common — they want to improve the quality of life in their community.

National Volunteer Week, April 15 to 21, is a time to reflect on the accomplishments of Canadian volunteers in the past, recognize and thank today’s volunteers, and think about ways we can become active participants in building strong communities for the future.

The PEI 4-H Council is incredibly fortunate to currently count 290 dedicated people from across the island as our volunteer leaders. PEI 4-H is also extremely grateful to the many parents and community members who help us run our 4-H events and activities each year, and to the various agriculture based businesses across the island that open their doors to us each year so members can learn about their industry as part of their Agriculture Awareness projects.

PEI 4-H Council salutes our volunteers for their dedication in helping the young members of PEI 4-H develop valuable life and leadership skills, greater self esteem and a broader world view. Our volunteers act as wonderful role models for our 4-H members while encouraging them to take active roles in the betterment of the communities in which they live. Our volunteers serve our organization in a variety of ways: educating our members, fundraising, chaperoning, working on committees, organizing events, and running clubs.

On behalf of PEI 4-H I would like to express how honored I feel to be able to work with these amazing volunteers on a daily basis. And I would challenge everyone to take just a bit of time this week to thank a volunteer for their efforts in your communities. SUMMERSIDE — An alert siren is being installed on the grounds of the Summer Street Elementary School and its purpose will be to warn people of Summerside and surrounding areas of a nuclear attack. The siren will be controlled from the Provincial Warning Centre in Charlottetown and regulated directly from that point by means of a telephone hookup. HALIFAX — The new Northumberland Strait ferry Confederation will be accepted by the federal department of transport at Halifax Shipyards Limited Monday. The ferry to be operated by Canadian National Railways between Cape Tormentine, N.B. and Borden, P.E.I. has been undergoing trials at Halifax during the past several weeks. The Confederation, with limited icebreaking capabilities, is equipped to carry 300 day passengers and 68 autos.