The Treasury Board on Wednesday disclosed less than 40% of federal transactions during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic were actively tracked and monitored.The figures follow warnings of waste and fraud in hurried contracting worth billions, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “The Treasury Board made progress in strengthening internal controls over financial management across departments,” the board wrote in a submission to the Senate National Finance Committee.“The percentage of key financial management processes at the departmental level that have reached the continuous monitoring stage is tracked and reported to assess if internal controls are in place and regularly evaluated for effectiveness.”.WATCH: Poilievre warns Carney will spend like Trudeau 'on steroids'.Board figures show only 39% of transactions were tracked during the pandemic under then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The rate improved to 65% as the pandemic ended in 2023.“These results reflect coordinated efforts across government including department work to strengthen internal control frameworks,” wrote the board.“While progress has been made, departments are expected to continue refining their processes.” It did not elaborate.The figures follow warnings by a former Crown prosecutor at 2020 hearings of the Commons Ethics Committee to beware of fraud and waste.“You are thinking because of the pandemic, everything goes,” testified Denis Gallant, deputy counsel at the 2011 Charbonneau Commission that exposed graft in the Québec construction industry.“Very often people say, oh, if there’s a problem, we’ll send it to the police,” added Gallant, a Montréal lawyer.“I’m a former Crown prosecutor. You know what it’s like when you go to the police.”“As a taxpayer I have to wonder about what control measures were implemented to prevent any inflated pricing, potential fraud and waste. I also wonder if we received the best products and services at the best price from the companies and organizations the government has dealt with.”.Trudeau touts Liberals' defence spending as Trump proposes 5% NATO target.Gallant was deputy prosecutor at the Commission of Inquiry on the Awarding and Management of Public Contracts in the Construction Industry in Québec. The investigation prompted hundreds of criminal charges and resignations of three mayors.“We went through those scandals,” he said.“When contracts are signed or even when there are private agreements made, there could be a neutral independent organization, for example appointed by the House of Commons.”“In very short order they could send the signals and say, hey, watch out.”“Despite the goodwill and good laws I don’t think there is ongoing monitoring. We can have the best laws in the world, but if nobody is ensuring oversight of the process, that’s where we wind up in problems of waste, of potential fraud.”Parliament in 2008 created the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman mandated to investigate complaints of irregularities after the fact. Ombudsman Alexander Jeglic in a 2023 report Procurement Practice Review Of Health Canada calculated the department and Public Health Agency issued 17,000 pandemic contracts worth $22 billion. Random checks found more than a tenth failed to comply with procurement rules.
