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AUDITOR BLASTS CONTINUED FISCAL WASTE

QUEEN’S PARK – Ontario’s Auditor General has exposed the Wynne government once again for its failed fiscal and policy planning and management, Ontario PC Finance Critic and Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli said today. Among the Auditor’s key findings are:

• “No detailed plan or timeline for supporting development” of the Ring of Fire
• No “clear strategy” for paying down Ontario’s current and future debt, and a warning debt-servicing costs “divert funding away from other government programs”
• The Ontario Energy Board, protector of hydro consumer interests, was not consulted on the Hydro One sale
• The electricity portion of hydro bills for homes and small businesses has risen 70 per cent in the past decade. Ratepayers have paid $37 billion in Global Adjustment fees, and are expected to pay $133 million more by 2032. Surplus power cost Ontario $3.5 billion from 2009-14
• Electricity consumers will pay $9.2 billion more for renewables under the current guaranteed-price program than under the government’s previous procurement program
• Despite Ontarians’ paying more for hydro, Hydro One transmission and distribution is “less reliable”, and Hydro One is not making use of its $660-million smart meters to detect power outage locations
• Nearly two-thirds of initial home care assessments by CCACs were not done within the required time frame – it took over a year to assess some clients.  The North East CCAC receives the third-most funding on a per client basis.
• LHIN performance has stayed the same or worsened in nine of 15 measured performance areas. The North East LHIN, which received more than 60 complaints last year, was tied for last with just four target areas being met.  The Ministry does not hold LHINs accountable for missing their targets
• Additional costs to fix the “defective” SAMS computer system to administrate social assistance payments will push the total cost to $290 million.  Premature launch of SAMS resulted in $140 million in benefit calculation errors.
• Complaints to long-term care homes, including those of abuse of residents, often took longer than 30 days to investigate. The investigation backlog has more than doubled.
• No measurement of whether $1.45 billion in job subsidies strengthened the economy.

“The Wynne government’s waste, mismanagement and ineptitude is negatively impacting opportunities for Ontarians (especially in the North), draining their pocketbooks, and in some cases, putting their very health and safety at risk,” said Fedeli.