Auditor General Karen Hogan says ongoing problems with federal contracting point to a deeper failure in how the government manages procurement rules, and she is urging Parliament to get to the bottom of it.Speaking to the Commons public accounts committee, Hogan said her office continues to find unexplained irregularities in government spending. “During our audits we kept trying to figure out why we’re seeing the behaviour that we’re seeing,” she said. “Some public servants, at times, were unaware of the requirements that existed in the procurement rules.”Blacklock's Reporter said Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie pressed Hogan on whether ministers should be held responsible. “Why, based upon your intense evaluation, is this government incapable of following and enforcing the rules?” she asked. Hogan replied, “It’s a question we ask ourselves.”.When Kusie asked when ministers should be held accountable, Hogan said that responsibility lies with Parliament.“I think it’s ultimately up to this committee and other parliamentarians to hold ministers to account,” she said.A June 10 audit revealed that some irregularities may have breached the Financial Administration Act. The findings focused on GC Strategies Inc., a staffing company in Woodlawn, Ontario, that received more than $92.7 million in federal IT contracts before it was blacklisted and raided by the RCMP last year over alleged fraudulent billing..Hogan questioned why firms like GC Strategies were hired to deliver tech services in the first place.“What is it about the procurement process in the federal government that a staffing company is the mechanism typically used for IT services?” she asked.“Is it because the procurement process is complex or those delivering those services don’t want to wade through all of that and are happy to just go through a staffing company?”She said simply reminding public servants to follow rules is not enough. “I don’t see the value in telling the public service, ‘Follow the rules you already have in place,’” she said. “I think the rules are clear. It’s about making sure everyone knows them and how they should be followed.”Conservative MP Gérard Deltell expressed frustration with the government’s failure to maintain basic fiscal discipline. “We’re not talking about rocket science,” said Deltell. “We’re talking about basic healthy management of public funds. Canadian families know how to manage a budget but the government doesn’t? There is no justification.”
