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Liberals unveil new accountability system
[KDR: Why would we trust a corrupted government to create rules to control and punish itself?]
Just 10 days before the Gomery Commission issues its long-awaited report into the sponsorship scandal, the federal Liberals have unveiled what they say will be the most advanced system of oversight and accountability of any government in the world.
It's part of a wide-ranging effort by the Liberals to set out new initiatives and promises in advance of the report into who directed millions of dollars in public money to a handful of advertising agencies in Quebec.
In announcing the new system, Treasury Board president Reg Alcock said it would create a world-class accounting system. "We will lead the world in the rigorousness of our internal compliance and I guarantee you other governments will follow," he said.
Alcock and Public Works Minister Scott Brison say that over the next three years the government will hire new chief audit executives to oversee all spending.
Ottawa will also expand the use of audit committees made up of outside experts and every contract with private suppliers will set out specific rules to be followed and penalties if they aren't.
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"Everybody will know the rules. They will be clear. They will be part of every contract. That in itself will strengthen accountability. No one can say they weren't sure, [that] they didn't know the rules. That's no longer an excuse," said Brison.
The Gomery Commission heard time and again that rules were broken and that cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats did nothing.
Gilles Paquet, an expert on government organization with the Governance Centre at the University of Ottawa, says he doesn't believe the plan will stop the abuse of public funds.
"It resembles a 16th-century map – particularly elegant but not necessarily useful to navigation," said Paquet.
New Democrat MP Ed Broadbent says the measures, coupled with reports that the Liberals are planning broad income tax cuts, are obviously intended to counter criticism that could be contained in the Gomery report.
"Not only politicians and journalists here in Ottawa think it's pre-election stuff, so do the people of Canada," said Broadbent.
Justice Gomery is scheduled to release his report in two parts. The first part, which will lay blame for the scandal, is scheduled to be released Nov. 1. The second part, which will recommend fixes, will arrive in February of 2006.
The inquiry was called to look into the sponsorship program, a $250-million project intended to promote national unity and to oppose separatism in Quebec.
In her February 2004 report, Auditor General Sheila Fraser said an estimated $100 million in commissions in relation to the program went to Liberal-friendly ad agencies for little or no work.
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