P.E.I. government doesn’t follow its own rules
Province has never been in compliance with its own law in place since 1995
Laws are not mere suggestions; they must be followed. And when they are not followed, there should be consequences.
This is the sixth and final article in a series that discusses my belief that there is systemic maladministration in how the P.E.I. provincial government manages its programs and services. The articles show that the government is not following good practices of accountability and transparency, leading to poor outcomes.
This is unacceptable. We would never accept getting a one per cent return on our savings after being promised five per cent. We would never accept purchasing a new car and then having it delivered with a big dent on the hood. We would never accept waiting in line for an hour to get served in a fastfood restaurant that advertises service will be provided in under five minutes.
So why should we pay for, or accept, substandard service from our provincial government? Why would we accept not knowing what to even expect from government services in the first place?
In previous articles, I’ve identified issues such as government’s procurement practices not ensuring value for money; difficulties in seeing a family doctor; extended wait times for numerous health procedures; poor access to long-term care; and a lack of services for mental health patients. From my research, many of these problems are getting worse.
Strategic and operational plans are either deficient or missing for Islanders to be able to see how things will improve. Islanders do not know where and how money is being spent against benchmarks or best practices. If government had a good management and accountability framework perhaps some of these serious problems would have been addressed years ago.
We only have the Office of the Auditor General to provide an independent review of the government’s administration of the public purse. Its annual reports, year after year, indicate that the government is failing to comply with its own rules, uses poor administrative and management practices, and manages programs and services without due regard to value for money.
According to these public reports, including auditor general Darren Noonan’s report issued last month, successive governments in P.E.I. have failed Islanders.
As far back as 1995 — 26 years ago — the auditor general of P.E.I. issued a report that stated: “The Legislative Assembly, government and managers cannot carry out their responsibilities without adequate performance information on government programs. This information is required and should be reported within an accountability framework that identifies what is to be achieved, what has been achieved, and who is responsible for results.”
Then auditor general Wayne Murphy’s conclusion was that this basic form of management and level of accountability required legislation to make this happen.
Also in 1995, the provincial treasurer committed to having legislation introduced that would “improve accountability by holding departments, agencies, regional (health) authorities and school districts accountable for meeting agreed upon objectives and require annual reporting on program effectiveness and achievement of results.”
The Financial Administration Act was amended in 1996, introducing an accountability framework requiring government entities to prepare annual reports focusing on their goals and reporting on results achieved.
That requirement still exists today, but the government has never been in compliance with its own law and has never implemented the management practices this law requires that would ensure we get quality government services.
There are many more examples. Last year, government ministers spent public funds without the authority of the legislative assembly or special warrants. The civil service did not stop it from happening. Government entities are not meeting their own reporting deadlines set out in provincial laws for issuance of their financial statements and annual reports. The e-gaming initiative wasted public funds because, as the auditor general reported, the government did not follow its rules and laws.
This is a very serious matter. Laws are not mere suggestions; they must be followed. And when they are not followed, there should be consequences. Islanders know they must abide by the laws that pertain to them. Government must do the same.
This seems to be a common failing in our provincial government. Yet, my research indicates that no one in the provincial government has ever been fired for failing to follow the laws.
I have identified numerous matters in this series of articles that I strongly believe are causative to the maladministration of our provincial government and the poor services we are getting. More importantly, I’ve identified many of the requisites for the kind of corruption that I find in my work with Third World countries.
The legislative assembly should modernize its practices and provide stronger laws and better oversight. Ministers should acknowledge how their repeated incursions into the administrative role of government over the years have led to negative impacts on accountability and resulting in poor programs and services — health care being the most prominent. And our public service should commit itself to greater professionalism.