Treasury Board President Tony Clement, who was called before the House Public Accounts Committee last week on accusations he personally presided over the distribution of a $50-million G8 Legacy Fund, moving requests for projects last year directly into his Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont., riding through his political office in Huntsville, told MPs that in hindsight, the government could have handled the money better. Opposition MPs say they aren’t buying his “dog ate my homework” excuses and are questioning the man—now dubbed “the Maverick Minister From Muskoka”—over his ability to preside over $11-billion in federal government cuts over the next four years.“The issue here is above and beyond the G8 Legacy Fund. The issue here is Minister Tony Clement has become the minister responsible for the Treasury Board, he’s the minister responsible for the spending of $250-billion a year…his judgment has been called into question through the G8 fund, he did not exercise good judgment,” said Liberal MP and Public Accounts Committee vice-chair Gerry Byrne (Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte, Nfld.) in an interview with The Hill Times.
On Nov. 2, Mr. Clement (Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.) and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird (Ottawa West-Nepean, Ont.) made a highly-anticipated appearance before the House Public Accounts Committee to answer questions about their alleged mishandling of a federal fund meant to give Hunstville, Ont.—the host location of the 2010 G8 Summit—a facelift, ahead of international dignitaries and attention.
At the Nov. 2 House Public Accounts Committee meeting were the seven majority Conservative members: co-vice-chair Daryl Kramp (Prince Edward-Hastings, P.E.I.), Jay Aspin (Nipissing-Timiskaming, Ont.), Joyce Bateman (Winnipeg South Centre, Man.), Earl Dreeshen (Red Deer, Alta.), Bryan Hayes (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.), Andrew Saxton (North Vancouver, B.C.), and Bev Shipley (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, Ont.). There were five NDP MPs present: chair David Christopherson (Hamilton Centre, Ont.), Matthew Dubé (Chambly-Borduas, Que.), Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay, Ont.), Guy Caron (Rimouski-Neigette-Témiscouata-Les Basques, Que.), and Alexandre Boulerice (Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, Que.). Co-vice chair Mr. Byrne was the only Liberal MP.
Centre Block’s Room 237-C was full of media, staffers and MPs of all stripes at last week’s committee meeting. NDP MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, Man.) sat on the opposition sidelines for a good portion of the meeting. Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre (Nepean-Carleton, Ont.) was present, seated on the government side with his iPad. Lone Green Party Leader Elizabeth May (Saanich-Gulf Islands, B.C.) took an empty seat on the opposition side of the table, and former Bloc Québécois MP and Public Accounts Committee member Meili Faille, the former MP for Vaudreuil-Soulanges, Que., was seated in the audience.
Since the release of now former auditor general Sheila Fraser’s scathing report in June—which indicated the Conservative government misled Parliament and mismanaged the $50-million fund—questions directed at Mr. Clement by opposition MPs in the House have instead repeatedly been fielded by Mr. Baird, Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai (Calgary East, Alta.), and Mr. Poilievre—seemingly anyone but Mr. Clement, much to the opposition’s chagrin.
Finally before committee, Mr. Clement said it was a “pleasure” to attend, but somewhat sullied those kind sentiments by pointing out—with a perceived tongue-in-cheek—that a total of 39 hours had already been spent hearing testimony on the issue.
In February 2009, Mr. Clement announced a $50-million infrastructure fund for G8-related construction and renovation projects, 17 months ahead of the 2010 summit in Hunstville, Ont., in Mr. Clement’s riding.
But back in September 2008, a few months after the 2010 G8 Summit location was announced, Mr. Clement convened his first meeting with local leadership. The group, he told the committee, was “primarily” a way to give community leaders “an opportunity to be briefed by government officials on developments that would affect the community” during the G8’s planning.
In the end, regional leaders came up with 242 project proposals to submit for the G8 Legacy Fund. That number was reduced, and 33 project proposals—coming within the $50-million confines of the fund—moved first through Mr. Clement’s constituency office and were ultimately submitted to then Treasury Board minister Mr. Baird for funding approval. Ultimately, 32 projects were approved; one had been withdrawn by a municipality.
While Ms. Fraser and her team were looking for documentation to reveal the project selection process for the G8 Fund, Ms. Fraser instead found a missing paper trail—multiple offices that were supposed to have been involved in the process could provide no documentation.
Municipal freedom of information releases obtained by the NDP and media uncovered email conversations between Mr. Clement and local leaders, suggesting the minister was working to help municipal officials leap-frog approval for projects directly to the Cabinet.
In addition to being unable to determine how the 32 G8-related projects were selected, Ms. Fraser found there to have been a lack of transparency in the handling of the fund. In the 2009 fiscal year’s budgetary estimates, $83-million was set out for “border infrastructure to reduce congestion” submitted to Parliamentary approval. Unsaid in the estimates was that $50-million of that figure was actually intended for the G8 Fund.
Mr. Clement has since come under heavy fire from opposition, who charge that he and the government misled Parliament and mishandled the G8 Fund, by directly controlling the project selection process and using $50-million for “pork-barrel” politics in Mr. Clement’s riding.
Before committee on Nov. 2, Mr. Baird and Mr. Clement both said in retrospect, the government could have better handled the process.
Mr. Clement told the committee the 242 projects local officials initially came up with for the G8 Fund would have totaled $500-million, so he made the decision to encourage the approximately 25 local leaders to work together to narrow down that number, “in the interests of efficiency and time.” Mr. Clement stressed that the meetings he convened with local authorities were not a decision-making body.
“In hindsight, it may have been better for infrastructure officials to review all 242 initial proposals and not simply encourage the local mayors to collaborate and focus their requests,” said Mr. Clement.
Mr. Baird, who was responsible for silently including the $50-million within an $83-million border infrastructure fund, said with only 15 months to go, he made the decision to include the money in a pre-existing fund on the advice of his officials, in order to speed up the process—a practice, he said, has been done in Parliament for more than 100 years
However, Mr. Baird told the committee: “In hindsight, the estimates could have included a line regarding the top-up of this fund. I stand by my decisions which were informed by the best possible advice.”
Though the Harper government may now be seeing things in hindsight, opposition MPs are still seeing red.
Opposition MPs say they don’t believe that 25 separate officials could agree to reduce project proposals from 242 to 33, and they say they find it hard to believe that Mr. Clement’s office was only a depository for proposal submissions. Moreover, opposition MPs say they find it hard to swallow that the government had no role in selecting projects.
“When people started asking questions you said, ‘I’m sorry the dog ate my homework but I’ll do better next time.’ Mr. Clement, simple question: why should Canadians trust you with the $250-billion that you’re now in charge of?” asked Mr. Angus at the Public Accounts Committee meeting.
Following the May federal election, Mr. Clement was shuffled into the Treasury Board portfolio. In addition to the federal government’s annual $250-billion budget, as Treasury Board President Mr. Clement is responsible for making sure MPs and other officials follow spending rules, and is leading the charge to find $11-billion in government savings by 2015-2016.
“What he’s done is throw into question whether or not he’s the person capable of managing an $11-billion cost-cutting exercise and not handling it with a partisan flair,” said Mr. Byrne in an interview with The Hill Times.
In response to Mr. Angus’ committee meeting question (“What are you doing in the Treasury Board?”), Mr. Clement replied: “I have a long public record of public involvement…my record is a good record…I try to do my job as best I can for the people, not only who elected me, but for the people of Canada and will continue to do so in my new role as president of the Treasury Board.”
Echoing Mr. Clement’s comments, Conservative MP Daryl Kramp (Prince Edward-Hastings, Ont.), a member of the House Public Accounts Committee, told The Hill Times Mr. Clement’s record is one of integrity and community service: “He’s a phenomenal success in all of his portfolios and I think he’ll do a great job.”
NDP MP Guy Caron (Rimouski-Neigette-Témiscouata-Les Basques, Que.) said given Mr. Clement’s position as a senior minister, he should have known better.
“He knows how things are done, he knows the official process, which should be public, which the auditor general should have access to,” said Mr. Caron.
While Conservative MPs like Mr. Kramp say they are satisfied with Mr. Clement’s testimony—“I think it blew away a lot of the misperception”— opposition MPs are finding the exact opposite, saying many questions still remain.
Mr. Caron and Mr. Byrne both said they hope to hold additional meetings on the G8 summit and hear other witnesses, with Muskoka regional officials at the top of their minds.
However, Mr. Byrne said he’d confident the Conservative majority on the committee will say “that their minister is not going to be accountable any further.”
“We still don’t know…but if there is objection to have more meetings with this it will also create many questions about the ability of the Public Accounts Committee to actually conduct its work,” said Mr. Caron.
Origin
Source: Hill Times
No comments:
Post a Comment