Former B.C. premier to lead inquiry into past government spending in Ontario
Posted July 17, 2018 1:02 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – Ontario’s new Progressive Conservative government has appointed a former British Columbia premier to lead an independent inquiry into the previous Liberal government’s spending.
Premier Doug Ford says Gordon Campbell will head the Commission of Inquiry, which will issue a public report on its findings by Aug. 30.
Ford also announced that the province is taking bids from outside experts to conduct a line-by-line audit of government books.
He said the inquiry will provide answers on what went wrong with the province’s finances, while the audit will shed light on how the government can fix those issues.
The premier has pledged that the Commission of Inquiry would build on the work of the province’s auditor general, Bonnie Lysyk, who has suggested the government understated its deficit by billions.
The former Liberal government attributed the discrepancy to an accounting dispute related to calculations surrounding its Fair Hydro Plan and pension expenses.
In April, Lysyk said the previous Liberal government’s deficit projections were off by 75 per cent for 2018-2019, with that jumping to 92 per cent for 2020-2021.
That means the $6.7 billion deficit projected by the government for 2018-2019 will instead be $11.7 billion, Lysyk said, and the projected $6.5 billion for 2020-2021 will actually be $12.5 billion.
The former Liberal government attributed the discrepancy to an accounting dispute related to calculations surrounding its Fair Hydro Plan and pension expenses.
Ford has said he trusts the auditor general’s report but does not believe it gives a complete picture of government spending and accounting practices. He has not said how much the inquiry he has promised would cost.
