National Post (National Edition)
No ‘clarity’ on shortfall of $3B: PM
anti-terror money No inappropriate use, funds just not accounted for: AG
O T TAWA • Prime Minister Stephen Harper has brushed aside allegations from political critics of a major “boondoggle” after the auditor general revealed the federal government’s much-touted strategy to fight terrorism has been hampered by a mysterious $3-billion shortfall in spending.
In a report released Tuesday, Michael Ferguson revealed that the Harper government has been unable to explain why so much money set aside in recent years for the anti-terrorism initiative cannot be accounted for.
Furthermore, he found the government did not have a clear handle on whether it had met the strategy’s objectives of keeping terrorists out of Canada, and deterring attacks.
The revelation, which comes just days after Parliament passed anti-terrorism legislation and the RCMP made arrests in an alleged plot to derail a VIA Rail train, is bound to focus attention on the government’s capability to guard against terrorist attacks.
Mr. Ferguson’s auditors examined the Public Security and Anti- Terrorism (PSAT) Initiative, which was established in 2001 after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
Mr. Ferguson found that between 2001 and 2009, the Treasury Board allocated about $12.9-billion to 35 departments and agencies for activities related to public security and anti-terrorism.
However, his auditors found that only about $9.8-billion was spent on anti-terrorism activities during that period.
The auditors asked the government for information to explain the $3.1-billion difference between what was set aside and what was actually spent.
However, no records were “available” to explain the shortfall, Mr. Ferguson was told.
“We didn’t find anything that gave us cause for concern that the money was used in any way that it should not have been,” Mr. Ferguson said at a news conference.
“However it’s important for there to be a way for people to understand how this money was spent. And that summary reporting was not done.”
Later, in the House of Commons, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair scolded the government for how it “lost track” of $3.1-billion. He reminded Mr. Harper that the Conservatives once castigated the Chrétien government for a “billion-dollar boondoggle” at the Human Resources department.
“Will the Prime Minister hold his Minister of Public Safety accountable for this $3-billion boondoggle?”
But Mr. Harper cited Mr. Ferguson in saying there has been no “improper use of government money” and there had merely been a “lack of clarity” about how departments had reported their expenses over the years.
“The auditor general has made some suggestions on how we can be more clear in our tracking in the future. We will do that.”
Under the anti-terrorism initiative dating back to 2001, the government promised to distribute billions of dollars to various departments and agencies to reach five objectives: keep terrorists out of Canada; deter detect, prosecute and remove terrorists; facilitate relations with the U.S.; support international initiatives; and protect Canada’s infrastructure.
Funds were directed to several key areas, including air security, emergency preparedness and military deployment, intelligence and policing, screening of entrants to Canada, border security and infrastructure.
Mr. Ferguson revealed that although the Treasury Board Secretariat responsible for supporting the initiative had gathered reports on the work of individual departments and agencies, “it was unable to provide us with an assessment of progress toward each of the five objectives of the PSAT Initiative.”
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