Auditor General Releases 900-Page Report; Government Vows to Read the Executive Summary

OTTAWA – The Auditor General of Canada has released a scathing 900-page report documenting $12 billion in government spending that lacked proper oversight, competitive bidding, or any discernible outcome. The government has responded by vowing to read the executive summary at the earliest convenience. We take every Auditor General report very seriously, said a Treasury Board spokesperson, holding the document at a noticeable distance. We plan to convene a working group to review the findings and will report back to Parliament with a comprehensive action plan sometime after the next election. The report, titled Money: Where Did It All Go?, details 47 separate cases of spending that violated basic financial controls. In one instance, $340 million was paid to a consulting firm that billed for work done by a single intern. In another, a department spent $87 million on software licenses for programs that were never installed. This is just standard government efficiency, explained a senior bureaucrat who declined to be named. If you are not wasting at least 15% of your budget, you are not trying hard enough. The Auditor General has made 214 recommendations. Historically, 3% of Auditor General recommendations are fully implemented.

This story involves public funds. See our Hall of Shame for more on the worst abuses of taxpayer money since 2015.