Federal auditors have revealed significant irregularities in the Department of Agriculture's consultant hiring practices, raising concerns over the department's management and oversight. Blacklock's Reporter says this revelation comes amid questions about why federal managers are increasingly relying on expensive consultants despite a growing number of employees.“Improvements are required,” stated an internal Audit Of Professional Services at the Department of Agriculture. The audit highlighted that a Procurement Review Board, created to oversee contracting, was staffed with appointees lacking expertise in procurement and contracting.Appointees were “not procurement subject matter experts” and had “limited knowledge” of contracting, the report noted. “This in turn may diminish the overall effectiveness of the Board.”Auditors also criticized managers for withholding crucial information from the Board, hindering its ability to properly scrutinize contracts. “No performance reporting on procurement activities was compiled or shared with the Board,” the auditors wrote.“Records of decisions contained only partial information including whether submissions were approved, denied, or put on hold,” the report added. “Details such as discussion points, evidence of a challenge function, or the results of voting quorums were not documented. Having incomplete details documented in Board records of decisions does not provide a complete audit trail should questions about decisions occur.”Over the past five years, the Department of Agriculture has spent $231 million on consultants, issuing 1,109 contracts, including many sole-sourced awards without competitive bidding.Government-wide spending on consultants has surged 195% since 2016, according to a 2023 Budget Office report. Analysts noted, “It has shown consistent growth year over year.”Bloc Québécois MP Andréanne Larouche (Shefford, Que.) questioned the logic behind hiring more consultants alongside more federal employees. She expressed her confusion to the Commons government operations committee: “We have more public servants, so why use more consultants? They tell us, well, we have fewer resources. I don’t understand this. If we have more public servants we have more resources. Why are we doing more outsourcing?”The federal payroll, comprising 428,000 employees, costs $67 billion annually in salaries and benefits. In addition, spending on consultants totals another $21.6 billion a year, involving tens of thousands of contracts.Liberal MP Parm Bains (Steveston-Richmond East, Ont.) highlighted the close-knit nature of the federal consulting industry at the government operations committee meeting. “We find contractors, subcontractors, many know one another,” said Bains. “They work on several duties and relationships over time are built, these sort of things.”The audit calls for significant changes to ensure better management and transparency in the hiring and oversight of consultants, aiming to curb the escalating costs and improve accountability within federal departments..This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. We need you to stand with us and become a member of the Western Standard. Here’s what you will get for your membership:Unlimited access to all articles from the Western Standard, Alberta Report, West Coast Standard, and Saskatchewan Standard, with no paywall. Our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox. .Access to exclusive Member-only WS events.Keep the West’s leading independent media voice strong and free.If you can, please support us with a monthly or annual membership. It takes just a moment to set up, and you will be making a big impact on keeping one the last independent media outlets in Canada free from Ottawa’s corrupting influence.
Federal auditors have revealed significant irregularities in the Department of Agriculture's consultant hiring practices, raising concerns over the department's management and oversight. Blacklock's Reporter says this revelation comes amid questions about why federal managers are increasingly relying on expensive consultants despite a growing number of employees.“Improvements are required,” stated an internal Audit Of Professional Services at the Department of Agriculture. The audit highlighted that a Procurement Review Board, created to oversee contracting, was staffed with appointees lacking expertise in procurement and contracting.Appointees were “not procurement subject matter experts” and had “limited knowledge” of contracting, the report noted. “This in turn may diminish the overall effectiveness of the Board.”Auditors also criticized managers for withholding crucial information from the Board, hindering its ability to properly scrutinize contracts. “No performance reporting on procurement activities was compiled or shared with the Board,” the auditors wrote.“Records of decisions contained only partial information including whether submissions were approved, denied, or put on hold,” the report added. “Details such as discussion points, evidence of a challenge function, or the results of voting quorums were not documented. Having incomplete details documented in Board records of decisions does not provide a complete audit trail should questions about decisions occur.”Over the past five years, the Department of Agriculture has spent $231 million on consultants, issuing 1,109 contracts, including many sole-sourced awards without competitive bidding.Government-wide spending on consultants has surged 195% since 2016, according to a 2023 Budget Office report. Analysts noted, “It has shown consistent growth year over year.”Bloc Québécois MP Andréanne Larouche (Shefford, Que.) questioned the logic behind hiring more consultants alongside more federal employees. She expressed her confusion to the Commons government operations committee: “We have more public servants, so why use more consultants? They tell us, well, we have fewer resources. I don’t understand this. If we have more public servants we have more resources. Why are we doing more outsourcing?”The federal payroll, comprising 428,000 employees, costs $67 billion annually in salaries and benefits. In addition, spending on consultants totals another $21.6 billion a year, involving tens of thousands of contracts.Liberal MP Parm Bains (Steveston-Richmond East, Ont.) highlighted the close-knit nature of the federal consulting industry at the government operations committee meeting. “We find contractors, subcontractors, many know one another,” said Bains. “They work on several duties and relationships over time are built, these sort of things.”The audit calls for significant changes to ensure better management and transparency in the hiring and oversight of consultants, aiming to curb the escalating costs and improve accountability within federal departments..This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. We need you to stand with us and become a member of the Western Standard. Here’s what you will get for your membership:Unlimited access to all articles from the Western Standard, Alberta Report, West Coast Standard, and Saskatchewan Standard, with no paywall. Our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox. .Access to exclusive Member-only WS events.Keep the West’s leading independent media voice strong and free.If you can, please support us with a monthly or annual membership. It takes just a moment to set up, and you will be making a big impact on keeping one the last independent media outlets in Canada free from Ottawa’s corrupting influence.
