Auditor Finds Government Mismanagement

QUEEN’S PARK –The Auditor General’s report released today found numerous examples of government mismanagement that drove up our provincial debt and cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

“The Auditor found that smart meters cost hydro users a significant amount of money – 2 billion in total – but they haven’t had any of the outcomes of reducing peak use that the government promised,” said Hardeman. “The government hadn’t done sufficient planning before they charged ahead with smart meters and hydro users paid the price.”

The auditor found there were reoccurring problems with lack of planning, insufficient information for making decisions and the need for more staff training. “The auditor found clearly that the lack of planning and proper decision making is costing Ontarians money,” said Hardeman.

By 2017/18, the province’s debt will have doubled over the last year to a high of $340 billion. That means that to pay it off every man, woman and child in Ontario would have to pay $23,000.

In addition the Auditor General found that:

The government could have saved as much as $8 billion by building infrastructure themselves rather than using Infrastructure Ontario’s model;
45% of residential services for people with developmental disabilities have not been inspected since 2010; and
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term care has spent over $160 million, $85 million more than planned, on a computer system to capture individuals immunization information. However, many health care providers aren’t recording immunizations when they are given, making the data unreliable.
“The people of Ontario deserve better than a government that fails to plan and consistently mismanages projects,” said Hardeman. “Beyond the financial costs, people depend on the government to provide the services they need and to provide proper monitoring – their failure to do so puts people at risk.”

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For more information, contact:
Ernie Hardeman, MPP Oxford
(416) 325-1239