September 20, 2016
Province Responds to Auditor General's Reports on The East Side Road Authority
– – –Reports Highly Critical of East Side Road Authority's Lack of Oversight, Measurement and Mentoring: Pallister
Earlier today, the Office of the Auditor General released its reports on the Manitoba East Side Road Authority (ESRA) and the Public Interest Disclosure Investigation at the Manitoba East Side Road Authority. The reports describe an organization lacking accountability and oversight, and a complete failure to monitor or measure the results of millions of expended taxpayers’ dollars, Premier Brian Pallister said today.
“The previous government was warned there were serious problems with the oversight and management of ESRA,” said Pallister. “It knew the auditor general was investigating and yet did nothing to ensure that ESRA was fulfilling its mandate of providing First Nations communities with economic opportunity. Even worse, the government stood by on the eve of an election as millions of Manitoba tax dollars were thrown at a flawed model.”
The auditor general’s reports found that:
• no measurable objectives for the Aboriginal Engagement Strategy were put in place,
• no measures were in place for financial or construction management roles,
• ESRA was not tracking whether individuals provided with training were eventually employed on the project,
• ESRA did not track the number or amount of allowances paid out to community corporations and did not measure how they benefited from the allowances provided, and
• of 41 equipment assessments, more than half indicated equipment was either inoperable or unsafe and no plan existed to address the safety concerns.
“These reports condemn the previous administration’s mismanagement of the East Side Road Authority project,” said Infrastructure Minister Blaine Pedersen. “Our government accepts the recommendations of the auditor general and has already taken steps to ensure that appropriate due diligence is conducted, overlap and duplication are eliminated, and that safety, accessibility and economic opportunity are pursued in a respectful manner with impacted communities.”
Pedersen noted that between August 2009 and August 2015, ESRA signed community benefit agreements totaling $153 million. Many of these were signed after the Office of the Auditor General had started its investigation, which the minister indicated should have been a serious red flag to the previous government about concerns with the lack of monitoring and mentoring being provided by ESRA. In addition, Pedersen noted, between Jan. 18, 2016, and March 9, 2016, ESRA pursued additional agreements worth nearly an additional $160 million.
Pedersen further commented the Government of Manitoba will be identifying specific projects for cost-sharing consideration by the federal government. The minister confirmed he will meet with representatives of all 13 First Nations communities involved in the East Side Road project, as well as with the Manitoba Metis Federation, to discuss the auditor general’s report and the project’s next steps in the coming days and weeks.
“The auditor general’s assessment of ESRA is yet another example of the waste and mismanagement that was so prevalent under the previous administration which far too often put its own interests ahead of those of Manitoba taxpayers,” said Pallister. “Our government is moving Manitoba away from the politics of special interest and waste and toward a commitment to value for money in the public interest. We have taken steps to repair the damage and put our province back on a course that reflects the priorities of Manitobans and we will continue to pursue strategic initiatives that will make Manitoba the most improved province in Canada by the end of our first term.”
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