Ontario’s Auditor General, Shelley Spence, has a vital job in holding the public service to account. Her office investigates government departments, agencies and organizations to see if they’re efficiently delivering high quality programs and services.
This week, the Auditor General released four special reports - on Skills Development, Climate and the Environment, Childcare, and Housing. I attended the media briefing, where Ms. Spence was asked by a reporter if she had a favorite report. She said “that’s like asking me who is my favorite child” because every report has a story to tell about an issue that affects thousands, and sometimes millions of us here in Ontario. These reports all have a story to tell. Let's dive in:
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On Skills Development
The Auditor General found the province's management of its $2.5-billion skills training fund was troubling, not fair, and not transparent.
The Skills Development Fund gives employers, unions, municipalities, non-profits and colleges funding to train people looking for work.
The Auditor General found the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development David Piccini and his political staff were giving contracts worth millions of dollars to companies with close ties to the Conservatives, while rejecting applications from far more qualified applicants. They were playing favorites.
Here’s some troubling examples:
King Animal Hospital received $1.3 million to address workforce shortages. The founders of the hospital and their family have donated over $80,000 to the Conservative party.
The wife of former Labour Minister Monte McNaughton got $2 million to help dentists sell their businesses to investment firms.
A night club owner with ties to the Ford family got $6 million to hire workers.
This is about trust. Ontarians expect the government to deliver efficient programs that help people, not their well-connected friends. Highly qualified applicants should receive funding from the Skills Development Fund, over less qualified applicants. Our public colleges should be properly funded by the province so they can provide affordable education to students who want a practical career. The government’s latest cuts to public colleges, along with a drastic decline in international student enrollment, has led to layoffs, and the closure of entire departments and campuses.
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On Climate and the Environment
The Auditor General’s damning report on Ontario's progress to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions is in downright embarrassing and devastating.
The Conservatives will admit that climate change is caused by human activity, but they’ve basically abandoned their duty to do anything about it. The province will not be meeting its 2030 greenhouse gas emissions targets, and they refuse to even set targets after 2030. They’re not even publishing their plan or progress on reducing emissions. In fact, that’s why the Auditor General wrote this report.
Scientists have been issuing stark apocalyptic warnings for years. Unless governments everywhere do the necessary work of curbing pollution and making societies sustainable, our economy and our standard of living will decline.
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On Childcare
The Auditor General’s report on Ontario’s affordable childcare program shows the program is in jeopardy, and is failing to create enough childcare spaces and hire enough qualified workers to meet its targets.
Affordable childcare is essential to families because an affordable childcare spot means you can go back to work. It’s one of those government programs that pays off for the government in the long-term because parents that return to the workforce earn income and pay taxes.
The program needs $1.95 billion dollars just to keep operating. Where is that money going to come from? And if the money doesn’t come, what’s going to happen to the program? So far, almost all the funding for Ontario’s childcare program has come from the federal government – we’re talking about 98%.
I was also very concerned to learn that low-income families are now less likely to find an affordable childcare spot because they cannot compete with the increased demand for the limited number of affordable childcare spots available. Ontario needs to be bring in policy fixes so families most in need of affordable childcare can get that childcare spot.
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On Housing
It's clear that Home buyers should not trust the Home Construction Regulatory Authority to have their backs
Purchasing a home is likely to be the biggest financial decision you’re ever going to make.
It’s the Home Construction Regulatory Authority’s (HCRA) job to make sure buyers of new homes aren’t ripped off by developers.
We regularly hear stories from home buyers who had to spend thousands fixing up a poorly built home, or lost their deposit because a developer went bankrupt.
The Auditor General’s report shows the HCRA is doing a terrible job at investigating claims from home buyers against bad developers. The HCRA is also doing a sloppy job at vetting license applications from developers. The Auditor found that staff were approving the licenses of developers who were at risk of going bankrupt, or who had active and valid complaints filed against them.
What happens next?
After the reports are released and the news reporters file their story, my job begins. That’s because I’m on the public accounts committee, which means I work with my NDP, Liberal and Conservative MPP colleagues at Queen's Park and the Auditor General to improve the performance of the departments investigated in each report. We question heads of departments. We question ministers. We write reports ourselves. We raise these issues in the legislature.
On average, just 43 percent of the Auditor General’s recommendations are implemented. I want to get that number to 80 percent.
I think we can do it, and I'm ready to get to work.
Jessica Bell, MPP for University-Rosedale