Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Public Works prepared to launch probe into defence contractors’ costs

Public Works is prepared to launch its own probe into allegations a Crown corporation is being ripped off by contractors if the auditor general’s office does not agree to investigate.

Testifying before the House of Commons’ government operations committee, Public Works deputy minister François Guimont said he has asked auditor general Michael Ferguson’s office to look into allegations made in a report last month by the Union of National Defence Employees. However, Public Works may have to conduct its own audit, he said, since Ferguson’s office is already undertaking an audit of the Crown corporation in question, Defence Construction Canada.

“The OAG is giving us the signal that may be outside of the scope of their audit for reasons of time,” Guimont said in response to a question from Liberal MP John McCallum.

“I am waiting for that answer to be formally given to me in writing and should that be the case, we will carry out a review inside the department through the oversight branch in the department, in cooperation with DND — the Department of National Defence.”

While Public Works is responsible for Defence Construction Canada, the Crown corporation works closely with National Defence.

Guimont’s comments come a month after a scathing report into work done for DCC revealed private contractors were overcharging the Crown corporation for what was frequently shoddy workmanship. The report also raised questions about members of the military who had gone to work for DCC, some of whom had played a role in directing work its way.

At the time, union president John MacLennan said the report documents only a fraction of what his members believe is going on across the country.

Guimont said officials at Public Works were able to get an executive summary when the story broke last month, but only obtained a copy of the full report last week.

Guimont also faced pointed questions from MPs over recent reports of Public Works officials being wined and dined by Royal LePage, a real estate firm that won a $1 billion in lucrative government relocation contracts.

Pointing out the events in question occurred before his arrival at the department, Guimont said the department now has an ethics guide for Public Works employees and has strong oversight-and fairness-monitoring programs.

NDP MP Mathieu Ravignat also wanted to do know what the department has done since the revelation in 2010 that SNC Lavalin was charging the government controversial amounts of money for small repairs in government buildings, such as billing $1,000 for a doorbell. Guimont said a forensic audit was conducted by a third party into the spending and some money was repaid.

“We learned. We are a continuous learning organization and we put an action plan in place with several measures, 30 or 40 measures.” Guimont said Public Works also increased the number of people who oversee the contract with SNC Lavalin.

MPs also grilled officials over renovations to the Parliamentary precinct. While Guimont said the renovations are on time and on budget, committee chairman Pat Martin questioned why the plans call for building a giant glass ceiling over the temporary House of Commons chamber planned for the courtyard of the West Block building.

“If we’re so tight for money, why the billion-dollar skylight,” asked Martin. “Why don’t we just build a roof.

“What we understand now is the skylight over the courtyard is now going to have some new curtain so you can televise in there because the natural light won’t accommodate the televising of the chamber.”

Assistant deputy minister Pierre-Marc Mongeau said the $850 million price tag is for the entire chamber – not just the skylight. The government has approved the plans, he added.

Original Article
Source: ipolitics
Author: Elizabeth Thompson

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