Bellringer has a long list of hot topics
Auditor general Carol Bellringer’s to-do list for the next few years reads like a traipse through any number of hot spots on the provincial scene.
Anyone who is auditing the Site C dam, grizzly-bear management, the Massey Tunnel replacement project, climate-change mitigation and executive compensation, to name a few, is likely braced for a lot of arguments. All the above topics have prompted intense interest, heated wrangles, widespread suspicion or court cases.
Bellringer’s staff started the practice of listing what they plan to look at over the next three years during her first year in the job. It went over well, even with some of the named targets.
“Simply communicating our intentions may encourage administrators to explore ways they can improve the management of their programs,” she noted.
In a $45-billion budget, there is an inexhaustible supply of spending issues that need looking at. Bellringer said Wednesday in an interview her office has an inventory of hundreds of ideas for audits. The office sifts through all of them and does a lot of preliminary work to determine what’s worthy of going on the to-do list, which now stands at 56 planned audits.
A few of them from last year were dropped or melded into other projects. Others were deferred or started ahead of schedule, depending on circumstances. The goal is to ensure “we’re always selecting projects of greatest relevance and value to the people of B.C.”
There were two dozen performance audits on last year’s list. So far in 2016, Bellringer has released audits of mining compliance, budgeting and spending in the education system, access to mental health, the corrections service and credit-union supervision. Another nine are expected to roll out over the next few months.
Bellringer said the office suspends publication of audits during election time.
Some of the ones still to come from last year’s list include: • An audit to determine if the government is adequately managing the risks posed by climate change. It’s part of a national co-ordinated effort by all provincial auditors. B.C.’s version will also have a focus on what the government is doing to adapt to climate change, as well as mitigate it. • The grizzly-bear management audit is to determine if the government is meeting the objective of ensuring healthy grizzly populations throughout B.C. It will cover two ministries and examine their reporting to the public on the effectiveness of the management plan. Bellringer said it’s not about the hunt itself, but the findings will be closely read by people engaged in the ongoing argument over that hunt. • A followup report is expected on the province’s response to the provincial Missing Women’s Commission of Inquiry. The auditor general plans to examine the response to each recommendation and whether government can demonstrate that it has addressed the intent of the recommendation. • An audit to determine whether transferring ownership of many social-housing projects to non-profit groups worked properly. The review will determine if the benefits outweighed the costs and risks. • The Site C dam will be scrutinized in some fashion simply because it is so expensive, it’s impossible to ignore, said Bellringer. • The Massey Tunnel replacement project was also slated for an audit that might be upcoming.
The work list was updated Wednesday with 31 listed items. They’ll take shape over the next few years. They cover a range of government services and will likely maintain the focus on some controversial topics, or create new ones. • “Activities within the Pharmaceutical Service Division” is on the list, referring to the long-running controversy over the health researchers who were arbitrarily fired four years ago. Bellringer said that won’t start until the formal ombudsman’s investigation into the same issue is concluded and it might depend on the findings from that report. • The coastal-ferry contract the government has with B.C. Ferries will also be scrutinized. It was the subject of a concerted campaign by coastal communities during a round of service cuts. • Several wild cards that might prove interesting are access to clean drinking water, driving safety, first responders, hospital-acquired infections and end-of-life care.