Auditor General

Watchdogs need mandate to name, punish wrongdoers

Topics: 
PSIC, Watchdogs, Auditor General
Rating: 
5

Duff Conacher – April 9, 2012

Re: Watchdog rips into F-35 project, April 4

As the federal integrity commissioner did in a recent report, and as many good government watchdogs have done in the past, the auditor-general kept secret the names of wrongdoers in his report on the fighter jet purchase multibillion-dollar boondoggle.

The public has a right to know the identity of its employees - politicians, political staff, appointees or public servants - who break the rules, and so all the good government watchdog agencies must be required by law to identify exactly which person broke which rule in each situation.

CBC Radio: Parliamentary committees' secret decisions behind closed doors

Topics: 
Integrity Commissioner, Public Accounts Committee, Audio, Auditor General
Rating: 
0

CBC Radio – October 6, 2011

Now that it has a majority on the Parliamentary committees, the government is exercising its newfound muscle: forcing the committees to meet in secret, then voting down routine business that might cause embarrassment.

Notably, the Public Accounts committee will no longer follow up on the Auditor General's scathing report on the misconduct of former integrity commissioner Christiane Ouimet or explore why Ouimet received a $500,000 government handout when she resigned.

AG reports shelved behind closed doors

Topics: 
Integrity Commissioner, Public Accounts Committee, Auditor General
Rating: 
5

CBC News – October 6, 2011

Auditor general reports into military helicopter overruns, the former integrity commissioner's half-million dollar severance and mismanaged renovations on Parliament Hill won't be investigated by a House committee after MPs voted not to study them.

CBC News has learned that several auditor general reports will be shelved. And even the decision to keep the reports secret was made behind closed doors, CBC's Karina Roman reports.

AG's office disputes former integrity commissioner Ouimet's version of audit events

Topics: 
Integrity Commissioner, Auditor General, Christiane Ouimet
Rating: 
5

Jessica Bruno – June 6, 2011

The AG's office took the unusual measure of issuing a subpoena to Ms. Ouimet after she skipped an appointment with auditors on Nov. 9, 2009, which was scheduled more than a month in advance.

The Auditor General's audit of the Integrity Commissioner's Office suffered "significant delays" and took two years to complete because then-commissioner Christiane Ouimet failed to show up to pre-arranged meetings, resulting in the AG's office subpoenaing her, according to a sent letter to the House Public Accounts Committee and released by the Auditor General's Office to The Hill Times.

AG, public sector integrity commissioner could have released reports in election

Topics: 
Integrity Commissioner, Auditor General
Rating: 
4

AG Sheila Fraser refuses to release report on G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund. Her reasons do not stand up to careful scrutiny.

B. Thomas Hall – April 25, 2011

OTTAWA—I am greatly disturbed by the decision of appointed officials such as the auditor general of Canada and the public sector integrity commissioner not to release reports containing information that the public has a right to see when deciding who should represent them in the next Parliament.

Following the leak of two draft versions of her future report to Parliament, Auditor General Sheila Fraser has steadfastly refused to release her office's findings about the government's use of the G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund. With the greatest respect, the reasons given by Ms. Fraser on the AG's website do not stand up to careful scrutiny.

Ouimet to testify along with AG on AG's scathing report

Topics: 
Integrity Commissioner, Auditor General, Christiane Ouimet
Rating: 
3

Christiane Ouimet finally testifies, but MPs say they want to know more about her $500,000 severance package and what she did for whistleblowers.

Jessica Bruno – March 14, 2011

Former disgraced public sector integrity commissioner Christiane Ouimet, who defiantly refuted Auditor General Sheila Fraser's scathing report last week of her office and her conduct on Parliament Hill, may get the chance to tell her side of the story again when she's called before the House Public Accounts Committee alongside the auditor general.

NDP MP David Christopherson (Hamilton Centre, Ont.) said having the two appear side by side to answer Parliament's questions will give MPs a chance to "reconcile" the two disparate portraits of the office.

Harper: "cheapest and fastest way" to remove Ouimet

Topics: 
Integrity Commissioner, Videos, Auditor General, Christiane Ouimet
Rating: 
0
Stephen Harper

March 10, 2011

Prime Minister Harper responds to a journalist's question about why he paid former Integrity Commissioner Christiane Ouimet $500,000 to resign and why this agreement included a gag order preventing Ouimet or the government from criticising each other.

Harper stated: “The government does not have a legal recourse to fire an individual in that position, so the government accepted advice from its lawyers: what was the best, the cheapest and fastest way to make a change so that office could get on with the job it’s supposed to be doing?”

CBC Power and Politics: Ouimet's testimony

Topics: 
Integrity Commissioner, Videos, Auditor General, Christiane Ouimet
Rating: 
0
David Christopherson

March 10, 2011

CBC Power and Politics host Evan Solomon and three committee members discuss former Integrity Commissioner Christiane Ouimet's testimony before the Public Accounts committee today.  (8 minutes)

Guests were Andrew Saxton (Conservative), Navdeep Bains (Liberal), and David Christopherson (NDP).

Never told of allegations against me: Ouimet

Topics: 
Integrity Commissioner, Public Accounts Committee, Auditor General, Christiane Ouimet
Rating: 
0

Former integrity watchdog makes 1st public appearance since resignation, scathing report

Laura Payton – March 10, 2011

The woman whose job it was to protect public servant whistleblowers painted a picture of her own persecution during her time in the role. Christiane Ouimet, the former public sector integrity commissioner, says her office underwent two years of investigation at the hands of Auditor General Sheila Fraser.

"Along the way I never knew what were the issues, what were the allegations," she said. "I was told repeatedly this is a very special audit. We were being treated differently." Ouimet said she can answer every one of Fraser's points, but she didn't respond in the space allowed for her in the audit report.

Embattled former integrity commissioner tells MPs of her flawless work

Topics: 
Integrity Commissioner, Public Accounts Committee, Auditor General, Christiane Ouimet
Rating: 
3
Christiane Ouimet

Amy Minsky – March 10, 2011

OTTAWA — Disgraced former public sector integrity commissioner Christiane Ouimet staunchly defended her time in the job Thursday as she told MPs repeatedly, with pride and conviction, that she executed her job almost without flaw.

After an abrupt resignation followed by months of silence and ignoring or declining requests to appear before MPs, Ouimet sat in front of the House of Commons public accounts committee to answer questions about her controversial $530,000 severance package and the scathing report issued by the auditor general, accusing her of bungling her job.

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