PACP Committee News Release
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Standing Committee on Public Accounts |
HOUSE OF COMMONS CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES OTTAWA, CANADA K1A 0A6 |
Comité permanent des comptes publics |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
COMMITTEE URGES GOVERNMENT TO CLARIFY FOUNDATION ACCOUNTING ISSUES; $7.6 BILLION IN ASSETS AT STAKE
Ottawa, June 02, 2005 -
Mr. John Williams, Chair of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, today tabled a report recommending that the federal government clarify its accounting practices for transfers to foundations. At stake is some $7.6 billion in foundation bank accounts (as of March 31, 2004) that presently is not included in the federal government’s balance sheet.
In its twelfth report, the Committee also praised the government for acting on its longstanding recommendations to allow the Auditor General to conduct performance audits of foundations. Specifically, Part 7 of Bill C-43 amends the Auditor General Act to extend the Auditor General’s audit power to foundations and certain Crown corporations.
If Bill C-43 does receive parliamentary approval, the Committee recommended that the Auditor General immediately conduct a performance audit of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). Between 1996-97 and 2003-04, the CFI received some $3.65 billion from the federal government and paid out $1.23 billion in grants, accumulating $740 million in interest on investments in the interim. The CFI’s funding agreement requires the foundation to commit all of its funds by 31 December 2010.
Elsewhere, the Committee recommended that the government amend foundation funding agreements to allow the government to align foundation policy with major policy changes. Presently, the government can only affect foundation policy when it establishes a new foundation or transfers additional money to an existing foundation.
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