End financial abuses, McGuinty tells public employees
Peterborough Examiner, December 7, 2006
The auditor general found staff at Hydro One racked up $127 million on corporate charge cards without providing receipts, while workers at Ontario Power Generation spent $6.5 million without paperwork to support the charges.
There were also instances of teachers and Children's Aid Society executives rewarding themselves with everything from luxury vehicles and exotic vacations to DVDs and Christmas lights.
The point I'm trying to make today is, you will be found out, McGuinty said before a Liberal cabinet meeting.
"We're going to give the auditor general whatever authority he needs to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly."
McGuinty warned workers at hydro utilities, Children's Aid Societies and colleges to stop abusing taxpayers' money.
"You've got to be careful, you've got to be accountable," he said.
"People work really hard for the money that they make, and they have every legitimate expectation that we, the recipients of that money, are going to handle it in a responsible way."
This was the first year Auditor General Jim McCarter had the power to investigate the energy utilities, school boards, hospitals and Children's Aid Societies, and despite the spending abuses uncovered, McGuinty said he's pleased the government expanded the auditor's powers.
"It's better to know than to not know, and it serves as an important opportunity for us to send a signal to everybody employed in the broader public sector: act carefully," he said.
The auditor also found Hydro One CEO Tom Parkinson had his secretary charge almost $50,000 to her corporate credit card -- even though most of the items purchased were for his use -- and then signed off on the charges himself.
McGuinty wouldn't say what the government could do about Parkinson's spending, nor could Energy Minister Dwight Duncan.
Duncan said there's a culture of entitlement at Hydro One that he wants to change, but he wouldn't agree with the opposition that Parkinson should be disciplined.
"That is not what the auditor concluded at all... nor is that the conclusion of the executive committee of the (Hydro One) board," he said.