Harper loses billions of dollars







The fact that Stephen Harper’s government cannot account for over three billion dollars is somewhat surprising, not only because of the sheer amount of money in question, but also because he tends to run a rather tight ship, and has been known to disallow his ministers to speak to the media without consent. So how is it possible that such a large sum of money could go missing, and will Prime Minister Harper hold his ministers accountable for this waste of tax-payer dollars?

Auditor General Michael Ferguson had found a discrepancy in funds intended to go to combating terrorism, as well as other projects at the Department of Public Safety.

“Funds were directed to several key areas, including air security, emergency preparedness and military deployment, intelligence and policing, screening of entrants to Canada, border security and infrastructure,” said Mr. Ferguson in a May First interview with Mark Kennedy of Post Media News.

Mr. Ferguson also explained what kind of information the investigation hoped to uncover.

“In this audit, we examined whether reporting of funds was accurate and whether programs were consistent with the objectives of the Initiative,” said Ferguson.   

Upon receiving the results it was clear that violations had occurred on both fronts.  During question period in the House of Commons May .. Prime Minister Harper acknowledged that there had been a “lack of clarity [surrounding the missing funds.]” 

Of course, this sounds eerily familiar, and there is a high degree of irony in how lightly Prime Minister Harper has been taking this situation, considering what he said in the House of Commons during the HRDC incident with the Liberal Party back in 2005.

“One would think there would be some element of shame from the Liberal Party regarding today's report but there is none whatsoever.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself Mr. Harper, this shows a clear lack of leadership and lack of responsibility. The opposition has not missed out on the opportunity to remind the Canadian public just how serious this incident is.

“When the Liberals lost track of $1 billion at Human Resources, the current Minster of Defence qualified the situation as extremely serious. He said, and I quote, ‘it warrants an investigation,’’ said NDP MP Nycole Turmel during question period in the House of Commons May First.

The only possible way for the Prime Minister to retain any sort of dignity and legitimacy in this situation, would be maintain the same standard he did when discrepancies plagued the Liberal Party- recover the funds, and launch a full investigation.  


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