Contracting at Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez’s department is "haphazard," according to an internal audit. Investigators said millions were spent in the department with little oversight, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“By its nature, procurement is inherently exposed to certain fraud-related risks that could have a financial impact on the department,” said the Audit Of Procurement Practices. “This could include a number of scenarios including staff members taking advantage of a conflict of interest, bid rigging schemes, targeted specific suppliers and bribes and kickbacks. As such assurance is required that the department has adequate internal controls.”.Last year, the department spent a total of $20,566,092 on contracts. Most pf these were sole-sourced without any competitive bidding, wrote auditors..“The mandate of the department and its core responsibilities requires that it engages in a relatively higher number of procurements that do not involve traditional competitive processes,” said the report..“Government procurement is an area that receives ongoing scrutiny by the public, media and Parliament,” said Procurement Practices. “Any real or perceived favouritism towards certain suppliers or hint of misspent funds could have a significant impact on management and the department.”.The report said as a result, assurance must be provided to interested stakeholders that Canadian's money money is being well spent and that "prudence and probity are being applied.".Auditors also found the heritage department had no single oversight committee to monitor contracting, a practice that “increases the likelihood of risks,” they said..“The audit team found there is no regular process by which senior management reviews and provides strategic direction for procurement.”.Examinations of records picked at random found cases where contracts were undated, had no documentation or were “unreadable.” Of contracts put to competitive bidding, 53% indicated all bids were never fully evaluated..Auditors also faulted sloppy practices involving staff use of government-issue credit cards for purchases under $10,000. “There are no documented processes associated with tracking, monitoring and cancelation of acquisition cards,” said the report. “As such it is unclear who is responsible for these activities.”.“Acquisition cards are the department’s preferred procurement method for low dollar value items, i.e. under $10,000, due to efficiencies associated with these cards,” said the report. “As such the volume of acquisition card purchases can be quite high across the department.”.Of 148 credit card accounts checked at random, auditors found 33 were used to make purchases without required pre-approval by any supervisor. In four cases all records were destroyed. Department of Canadian Heritage staff spend $3 million on credit cards, said the report.
Contracting at Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez’s department is "haphazard," according to an internal audit. Investigators said millions were spent in the department with little oversight, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“By its nature, procurement is inherently exposed to certain fraud-related risks that could have a financial impact on the department,” said the Audit Of Procurement Practices. “This could include a number of scenarios including staff members taking advantage of a conflict of interest, bid rigging schemes, targeted specific suppliers and bribes and kickbacks. As such assurance is required that the department has adequate internal controls.”.Last year, the department spent a total of $20,566,092 on contracts. Most pf these were sole-sourced without any competitive bidding, wrote auditors..“The mandate of the department and its core responsibilities requires that it engages in a relatively higher number of procurements that do not involve traditional competitive processes,” said the report..“Government procurement is an area that receives ongoing scrutiny by the public, media and Parliament,” said Procurement Practices. “Any real or perceived favouritism towards certain suppliers or hint of misspent funds could have a significant impact on management and the department.”.The report said as a result, assurance must be provided to interested stakeholders that Canadian's money money is being well spent and that "prudence and probity are being applied.".Auditors also found the heritage department had no single oversight committee to monitor contracting, a practice that “increases the likelihood of risks,” they said..“The audit team found there is no regular process by which senior management reviews and provides strategic direction for procurement.”.Examinations of records picked at random found cases where contracts were undated, had no documentation or were “unreadable.” Of contracts put to competitive bidding, 53% indicated all bids were never fully evaluated..Auditors also faulted sloppy practices involving staff use of government-issue credit cards for purchases under $10,000. “There are no documented processes associated with tracking, monitoring and cancelation of acquisition cards,” said the report. “As such it is unclear who is responsible for these activities.”.“Acquisition cards are the department’s preferred procurement method for low dollar value items, i.e. under $10,000, due to efficiencies associated with these cards,” said the report. “As such the volume of acquisition card purchases can be quite high across the department.”.Of 148 credit card accounts checked at random, auditors found 33 were used to make purchases without required pre-approval by any supervisor. In four cases all records were destroyed. Department of Canadian Heritage staff spend $3 million on credit cards, said the report.
