Slippery fingers cost taxpayers more than $1.2 million in thefts and losses at federal departments, says Blacklock's Reporter..Incidents detailed by cabinet ranged from stolen wine at the Department of Foreign Affairs to rampant misuse of credit cards at Parks Canada..Cabinet in an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons detailed thefts and losses totaling $1,210,893 since April 1, 2018..The figures were requested by Conservative MP Corey Tochor (Saskatoon-University)..Individual losses ran from 20 cents missing from petty cash at the Parole Board of Canada to $153,666 in stolen money and “unauthorized or fraudulent use of acquisition or travel cards” at Parks Canada. The agency reported 65 separate cases of improper use of government-issue charge cards. A total 15 thefts of petty cash at Parks Canada ranged from $3 to $2,000..The inquiry did not detail how many, if any, staff were fired or reported to police..“Public servants shall endeavour to ensure the proper, effective and efficient use of public money,” says a Treasury Board Values And Ethics Code For The Public Service..“Public servants shall act at all times in a manner that will bear the closet public scrutiny, an obligation that is not fully discharged by simply acting within the law,” said the Ethics Code..Various thefts and losses included:.$45 stolen from petty cash at the Canada Economic Development for Québec Regions agency;$1,270 that vanished in a Department of Employment bank deposit bag in Moncton;$23,635 in “fraudulent use” of charge cards at the Department of Indigenous Affairs;$116,312 worth of exhibits stolen from the RCMP in a theft uncovered in 2019;$126,450 lost and stolen at the Department of Fisheries including improper use of credit cards;$623,938 paid in 17 fraudulent claims under a Regional Relief and Recovery Fund by Prairie Economic Development Canada..The Department of Foreign Affairs reported $112,926 in thefts and losses. Incidents ranged from $131 in wine stolen from various embassies to $145 that disappeared “from the petty cash not accounted for during the closure of the mission in Kabul” as the city fell to the Taliban last August 15..Diplomats reported $2,273 worth of passports stolen by employees and $3,435 lost by a payroll clerk who was “victim of an email fraud scheme.” A total $19,807 was stolen from an “emergency cash parcel” at an unidentified mission..The largest single loss at the foreign ministry was $82,902 by diplomats in Algeria who failed to read the fine print in a contract..“In 2017 the Algiers mission made a payment to the Friends of the American International School in order to reserve seats in the soon to be built school,” wrote staff..“Unfortunately in the view of the American School this payment was a donation and no reimbursement is intended.”.Diplomats called it a “payment error.” The inquiry did not identify any dismissals or reprimands in the case.
