Boost oversight of public spending

The ever-evolving ArriveCan app scandal has exposed significant weaknesses in the federal government’s procurement process and highlighted the importance of strong oversight of government institutions.

While they may not be household names, most Canadians know the excellent work done by our federal, provincial and municipal auditors general. These men and women are essential to government oversight and are rightly seen as the taxpayer’s best friend. Their work is vital to ensuring public money is spent effectively, helping to keep government programs on track, and improving services for Canadians.

Believe us when we say that parliamentarians listen when the auditor general issues a report and are expected to take swift action.

This is why, as former chairs of the Public Accounts committee — the premier committee in Parliament responsible for overseeing government spending and departmental performance — we are calling on the federal government to take action and ensure elected officials from all parties have the support they need to scrutinize government spending and conduct proper government oversight.

Across the country, federal, provincial and territorial Public Accounts committees (and municipal audit committees) are fortunate to receive support from the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation (CAAF), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting and strengthening public sector performance audit, oversight and accountability. CAAF’s excellent work is recognized globally and our elected officials have benefited from its expertise.

Knowing the positive contributions made by CAAF, the Canadian Council of Public Accounts Committees and the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts unanimously passed motions acknowledging the support they have received and calling on the government to ensure adequate and stable funding for its capacity-building program and its other important services to legislative oversight bodies. Many committees across the country have echoed this message.

Unfortunately, the government has been slow to ensure stable funding for the work CAAF has been doing.

The funding requested to ensure our democratic representatives have the tools to scrutinize nearly $500 billion in annual federal spending (in addition to the hundreds of billions in provincial, territorial, and municipal expenditures) is just $4.5 million over three years. It is a very prudent price to prevent wasteful or inappropriate use of public funds and support better government services.

Research has shown that for every dollar spent on oversight, the government saves as much as $12 in government expenditures.

At a time when all governments need to look for ways to lower spending, federal funding for oversight is a sound investment.

While proper management of the public purse is a virtue in and of itself, we cannot understate the importance of adequate oversight in maintaining and improving public trust in our institutions. Trust in public institutions is the foundation of a peaceful and prosperous democracy.

The best way to prevent abuse and careless mismanagement of public funds is to ensure a rigorous and well-equipped process for scrutinizing spending and exposing any serious irregularities.

Proper oversight and accountability are non-partisan issues and the public is better served when elected officials have the knowledge and professional development to provide effective scrutiny.

The federal budget will be presented next month, representing hundreds of billions of dollars in government spending. It must be reviewed to ensure tax dollars are being used efficiently and effectively.

We urge the government of Canada to spend just a fraction of that money on strengthening our auditing and accountability framework, including CAAF.

FORMER NDP MP DAVID CHRISTOPHERSON, FORMER CONSERVATIVE MP KEVIN SORENSON AND FORMER LIBERAL MP SHAWN MURPHY ARE PAST CHAIRS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS. CHRISTOPHERSON IS A VOLUNTEER BOARD MEMBER OF THE CANADIAN AUDIT AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOUNDATION.