Hmmmm when they finish gutting the teachers here's a TDL
http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/efficiencies-involving-opp-drive-clean-explored-in-audit-1.1075946
Among other criticisms related to the public purse, Jim McCarter advised Ontario Provincial Police to better control its overtime costs and pay more attention to the assignments officers received.
McCarter said that OPP expenditures climbed 27 per cent over the last five years, despite the fact that Canadian crime rates continue to drop.
What’s more, the number of calls the OPP receives each year has remained steady since 2005, he added.
The missive is just one of the recommendations included in McCarter’s yearly report, intended to explore whether Ontario is properly handling taxpayer dollars.
This year’s report is McCarter’s last as auditor general. He said this time he’s paid particular attention areas that can become more efficient.
“This report comes at a time when the industrialized world is struggling with the twin challenges of slow economic growth and high debt, issues that also confront Ontario,” McCarter told reporters.
Shifting attention to Drive Clean, a mandatory vehicle-emissions testing program, McCarter said emissions have declined “considerably” since the program was first initiated in 1999. The development means that vehicle emissions are no longer considered a significant contributor to smog in Ontario.
Other areas examined by McCarter included:
Crown Attorneys:Number of Crown attorneys has doubled in the last two decades, but case load has “barely changed.” The argument is that the attorneys require more time, but the McCarter said there’s little available data that proves that.
Diabetes Management Strategy: It’s unclear how beneficial the $741-million program has been. McCarter said access to care has improved, but many services remain underused. As well, just three per cent of program funding has gone toward prevention.
Long-term care:Many patients are sitting in hospitals longer than they should be, McCarter concluded. It was discovered that one in five patients waiting for long-term care have applied to only one home, even though that home might have a sizeable waiting list.
Metrolinx: The audit concluded that once Metrolinx’s PRESTO card is fully developed, it will be one of the most expensive fare-card systems in the world. Initial estimates suggest the card could cost a total of $700 million.
- The LCBO is not taking advantage of its clout as one of the world's largest buyers of alcohol to get lower wholesale prices and increase its profit margin.
- The Liberal government needs to strike an appropriate balance between promoting its green energy policies and the higher electricity prices that result.
- The Minister of Finance owes the public an update on the controversial debt retirement charge, which was $7.8 billion in 2002 when the charge was established, while ratepayers have paid back $8 billion since then.
- The government needs to determine if the hundreds of millions of dollars extra it's paying doctors each year is actually resulting in improved care and better access to a physician.
- Ontario spends more per capita on legal aid than any other province, but helps the fewest number of low-income residents with dedicated legal representation.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/12/05/ontario-auditor-general-jim-mccarter_n_1129826.html
- The province isn't doing an adequate job of tracking how 400 local social service agencies spend the nearly half-a-billion dollars in funding they get each year.
- The Ontario Trillium Foundation has little documentation to prove the $100 million it gives out each year goes to the most worthy projects or that the funds were spent as intended.
- The Ontario Children's Lawyer only meets its investigation deadline in custody and access cases 20 per cent of the time and doesn't have a strategy in place to address the delays.
- The Ministry of Natural Resources needs to do a better job of making sure private forestry companies actually replant in areas where they harvest trees.
