Chapter 7
Standing Committee on Public Accounts

Table of Contents

Provincial Auditor Saskatchewan
1996 Fall Report

97

Committee activities

.04 To meet its responsibilities, the Committee holds public meetings to review, examine and evaluate the activities of government departments and Crown corporations included in the Public Accounts and the Report of the Provincial Auditor. Officials of these organizations attend these meetings and answer questions about their activities. The Committee reports its findings and recommendations to the Assembly.

.05 Our Office attends the Committee's meetings to help the Committee in its review.

.06 We commend the Committee for its many significant accomplishments.

 

Provincial Auditor Saskatchewan
1996 Fall Report

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Committee accomplishments during the twenty-second Legislature

.07 During the twenty-second Legislature, the Committee:

• adopted a mandate and operating principles and practices;

• asked our Office to prepare a special report on reported practices of government organizations requiring their employees to perform services for other organizations and on the provision of goods and services without charge;

• for the first time, formally requested, received, and reviewed the Government's response to its reports. This helps complete the accountability cycle in keeping with the Committee's new operating principles;

• played an important role in bringing about significant changes that allowed our Office to report to the Assembly on a more timely basis; and

• issued seven reports on its activities to the Assembly. These reports made 123 recommendations for a more open and accountable Government and better management of government operations. Some of the more significant recommendations called for:

- the Government to prepare summary financial statements, financial plans and budgets in accordance with the accounting principles and reporting standards of the Public Sector Accounting and Auditing Board of The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants;

- strengthening the accountability of Crown corporations;

- the Government to study the implications and issues related to preparing a multi-year financial plan for the Government as a whole;

- more co-operation to strengthen the audit process when it involves appointed auditors so that the system could function more efficiently and effectively;

- all government organizations to provide lists of payees; and

- improved reporting on pension obligations.

Provincial Auditor Saskatchewan
1996 Fall Report

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.08 The Government acted on most of the recommendations. Appendix VIII lists those recommendations the Government has not yet fully acted on.

Status of previous recommendations

.09 We think it is important the Committee know the status of previous Committee's recommendations that the Government has not yet fully acted on. Therefore, in Appendix VIII, we provide a status report, as at September 1996, on these past recommendations. The Appendix summarizes the outstanding recommendations from previous Committee reports.

.10 Our future reports will continue to monitor the status of the Committee's outstanding recommendations. We think this is important to help the Committee complete the accountability cycle.

The current Standing Committee on Public Accounts

.11 Members of the Committee at its last sitting in the first session of the twenty-third Legislature were as follows:

• Rod Gantefoer, Chair
• Maynard Sonntag, Vice-Chair
• Gerard Aldridge
• Dale Flavel
• Lynda Haverstock
• Mark Koenker
• Bob Pringle
• Violet Stanger
• Andrew Thomson
• Don Toth

New session of the Legislature

.12 When the Government called the 1995 election, the Committee ceased to exist. The Committee started again when the Assembly began sitting in March 1996.

Provincial Auditor Saskatchewan
1996 Fall Report

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.13 For the period from May 1995 to March 1996, there was no Committee to review, examine and evaluate the work of the Government.

.14 At the start of the first session of the twenty-third Legislature, the Assembly broadened the Committee's Orders of Reference to include the unfinished business of the twenty-second Legislature. In addition to the remainder of our 1993 Annual Report and the 1992-93 Public Accounts, this included all reports tabled since the dissolution of the twenty-second Legislature.

.15 To effectively and efficiently deal with the many outstanding items, the Committee asked our Office to list all recommendations from our reports that were still relevant at the beginning of the twenty-third session. Our Office tabled a "Schedule of Provincial Audit Recommendations" (the Schedule) with the Committee, which it adopted as a framework for dealing with its outstanding business.

.16 On April 29, 1996, we tabled our 1996 Spring Report. The Committee used the Schedule and our 1996 Spring Report to review, examine and evaluate the Government's activities.

Accomplishments of the current Committee

.17 The Committee held eleven meetings from March 1996 to June 1996.

.18 During these meetings, the Committee:

• received orientations from the Office of the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, the Legislative Library, the Provincial Comptroller, the Provincial Auditor, and Mr. H. Van Mulligen, past chair of the Committee;

• began their review of the Schedule and our 1996 Spring Report; and

• made its first report to the Assembly covering its examination of the first sections in the Schedule and related chapters in our 1996 Spring Report.

Provincial Auditor Saskatchewan
1996 Fall Report

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First Report

.19 The Committee tabled its first report on June 13, 1996. The Assembly concurred in the report. The Report contains forty-one recommendations.

.20 The recommendations in the Report relate to significant changes that would result in more open and accountable Government and better management of government operations. For example, the recommendations call for:

• improvement in the availability and the contents of annual reports for government agencies;

• a review of the implications of providing multi-year planning information;

• better information and guidance for boards of directors;

• addressing concerns regarding the management of information technology security;

• future cash flow information on Government pension plans and improved consistency in the policies and estimates of the plans; and

• improvements to the needs assessment process necessary for proper resource allocation in District Health Boards.

.21 We congratulate the Committee for its diligent efforts in bringing its review to a more current status. We look forward to helping the Committee fulfil its responsibility.

Provincial Auditor Saskatchewan
1996 Fall Report

103

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