The report of the Auditor General of Québec is tabled in the National Assembly - Press Release no. 1

QUÉBEC, May 27, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, Ms. Guylaine Leclerc, Auditor General, makes public the report entitled Value-for-Money Audit (Spring 2015). This publication presents the observations of the Auditor General and the results related to six value-for-money audits.

Observations of the Auditor General (Chapter 1)

In this chapter, the Auditor General discusses the new mandate given to her regarding the pre-election report. She will express, in an independent report, her opinion on the plausibility of the forecasts and assumptions presented in the pre-election report that will be prepared and published by the Minister of Finance.

Société des loteries du Québec: Acquisition of Goods and Services (Chapter 2)

Ms. Leclerc points out that Loto-Québec has adopted a framework that promotes good contract management. Despite this, the ensuing overall results raise questions regarding the efficient use of free competition and the fair treatment of suppliers. In this matter, the average number of tenders received that were found to be compliant and acceptable following public calls for tenders is not very high, at 1.9 out of 13 files examined.

Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières: Governance and Management of Real Estate Projects (Chapter 3)

The Auditor General first addresses the management of real estate projects by the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), namely the construction of the Drummondville campus and the centre for the development of excellence in sports. Deficiencies were found with regard to the management of these projects, such as the absence of a complete business plan and insufficient follow-up to the board of directors. In addition, the UQTR did not always respect the regulation and sound management practices in the awarding and management of professional service contracts. Finally, the board of directors and senior management did not fully assume their governance role. The interventions of the Université du Québec and the Ministère de l'Éducation, de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche did not allow to mitigate the deficiencies observed.

Employment Injuries: Compensation and Rehabilitation of Workers (Chapter 4)

This audit was carried out notably at la Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail. Ms. Leclerc notes that the Commission does not sufficiently play the expected role of change agent. Among the causes, she targets structural elements as well as the organization of the board of directors' work. More specifically for activities related to compensation and rehabilitation, improvements are necessary regarding intervention practices to ensure a sustainable return-to-work for the workers concerned. In addition, a major lengthening in the average processing time of medical assessments done by the Bureau des évaluations médicales has been observed. This lengthening of 29% since 2007-2008 contributes to increasing the risk of chronicity for the worker and the costs of the plan.

Family Medicine Groups and Network Clinics (Chapter 5)

Ms. Leclerc notes that the preferred referral mechanism to obtain a family physician, namely the guichets d'accès (waiting lists), is neither transparent nor fair. In addition, the departmental requirements related to the financial support that the audited agencies pay to family medicine groups (FMGs) have done little to encourage physicians to take charge of additional patients, especially more vulnerable ones. Certain patients who should be taken in charge within six months can spend years waiting. Moreover, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux as well as the audited agencies generally continue to fund FMGs even if they do not comply with the established criteria, including the number of registered patients and business hours. This causes inequity in the division of resources between the FMGs.

Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation: Contracts Presenting Risk Situations (Chapter 6)

Several concerning findings arise from this audit. First, the information the Deputy Minister relies on does not allow him to perform his contract management role. Among other things, no information useful for analyzing the contracting process or for identifying problematic situations is shared with him. Second, the results related to the call for tenders process and the management of information technology contracts are worrisome. The Auditor General founds deficiencies with regard to the honest and fair treatment of competitors, transparency, reporting and good use of public funds. For example, about $3.8 million was paid to the main supplier for a computer system that was abandoned at the start of its development.

Asset Recovery of the Equipment of the Gentilly-2 Nuclear Generating Station (Chapter 7)

This audit was carried out at Hydro-Québec following a request by the National Assembly. It concerns the sale of new equipment (custom designed for the generating station) on the metal recycling market for an estimated value of $75,000, while it was acquired at a cost of $79 million. Ms. Leclerc observes that Hydro-Québec did not consider it appropriate to issue a formal call for tenders, considering a lack of interest from buyers other than the equipment manufacturer. The lack of accompanying documentation makes it difficult to assess whether the decision to not proceed as provided in the sale process was appropriate. In addition, Hydro-Québec issued a restricted call for tenders to sell the equipment on the metal recycling market based on a weak assessment of the market value of the assets. Finally, potential buyers were selected on a discretionary basis without a review by the appropriate officials.

The Highlights are available at www.vgq.qc.ca. The full report is only available in French.

Source:

Lucie Roy, Director Cabinet, communications et affaires stratégiques Auditor General of Québec Tel.: [phone]

SOURCE Vérificateur Général du Québec

Lucie Roy, Director, Cabinet, communications et affaires stratégiques, Auditor General of Québec, Tel.: [phone]