Fraser Report Attacks Effort to Hide Costs: By Liberals

Just a quick reminder as the Liberals are desperately trying to cling to some belief that they will not be hammered by the voters on May 2..  as they raise issues of "respect for democracy" and "accountability", we should perhaps stroll back to 2006 and the report issued by Sheila Fraser respecting the Gun Registry.

In case you (like Michael Ignatieff) forgot - from CTV May 16, 2006:

The former Liberal government went to great lengths to hide the true costs of the controversial gun registry, Auditor General Sheila Fraser said in a scathing report released Tuesday.


Though the decade-long expense of the controversial registry through the end of fiscal 2005 has been tallied at $946 million -- coming in below an earlier approximation of $1 billion -- government officials concealed the actual amount, Fraser said in her first report since the minority Conservatives came to power earlier this year.

"It is more than simply a disagreement between accountants," Fraser told a news conference, in reference to the 2004 decision that hid nearly $22 million in overspending by the Canadian Firearms Centre that year alone.

"We believe that decision did not respect the government's own policies nor the Financial Administration Act. So this is a serious matter."

In addition to the 137-page main chapter, Fraser issued a separate 25-page special report on the registry to detail the way senior bureaucrats buried the cost of the gun registry.

The report finds that nobody kept written records of key meetings.

Fraser also noted that government officials refused to give up their client-solicitor privilege on conversations over the legality of the accounting decisions, denying the auditor general from access to key information.

"These officials also stated that legal advice should not determine the correct accounting treatment," says the report.

The main gun registry chapter outlines how errors in the Canada Firearms Centre's first registration computer system were repeated during the second generation registration system.

The first system, which was estimated to cost $94.5 million, had been pegged at nearly $190 million by 2005.

An "ill-considered" decision to develop a second system, says the auditor, is now years behind schedule and is costing about $90 million in costs against an initial approximation of $32 million.

The highlights:

"..great lengths to hide the true costs"

"..government officials concealed the actual amount"

"..that decision did not respect the government's own policies nor the Financial Administration Act. So this is a serious matter"

"..hid nearly $22 million in overspending by the Canadian Firearms Centre that year alone"

"..senior bureaucrats buried the cost of the gun registry"



"..nobody kept written records of key meetings"
 
"..denying the auditor general from access to key information"
 
"..first system, which was estimated to cost $94.5 million, had been pegged at nearly $190 million by 2005"
 
".."ill-considered" decision to develop a second system, says the auditor, is now years behind schedule and is costing about $90 million in costs against an initial approximation of $32 million"
 
That's it.
 
Now go about your business trying not to throw up in your mouth a little bit every time you hear a Liberal speak about "transparency" and "respect for democracy".