AG can’t release bombshell report, warns against premature conclusions
Posted Apr 11, 2011 10:02:46 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – The auditor general says she can’t release a report whose early draft is rife with concerns about Conservative pork-barrel largesse, dubious spending and misinforming Parliament.
Sheila Fraser says she can only issue the final version of her report on the G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund when Parliament is sitting.
She is also urging Canadians not to draw any conclusions until the final report has been made public.
Fraser says a report’s conclusions can change from one draft to the next, and that only the final report represents her audit findings.
The confidential early draft of the report concludes the government misinformed Parliament to win approval for a $50-million G8 fund that lavished money on questionable projects in Industry Minister Tony Clement’s riding.
It also suggests the process by which the funding was approved may have been illegal.
The report was put on ice when the Harper government was defeated and is not due to be released until after the May 2 election.
The report analyzed the $1-billion cost of staging last June’s G8 summit in Ontario cottage country and a subsequent gathering of G20 leaders in downtown Toronto.
