Time to Resolve Dispute Between the Government of Ontario and Auditor General

(Toronto, April 25, 2018) – Today, Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) released the following statement on the recent report by the Auditor General with regard to the Province’s Pre-Election Report.

“Today, we learned that the long-standing disagreement over the state of the province’s finances continues between the Government of Ontario and Auditor General. We encourage the Province to work constructively with the Auditor General to address this matter in a meaningful way in advance of the June 7 general election.

“If the province of Ontario were a publicly-held company, we as shareholders would deserve and demand clarity and accountability from our board and auditors. That is similarly our right as Ontarians.

“The Government of Ontario, and through them the people of Ontario, either respect our legislative officers or we do not. This disagreement undermines the whole of government. It is deeply concerning that the Government of Ontario would be accused of not following the Canadian Public Sector Accounting Standards.

“The OCC, as part of our Vote Prosperity platform, understands that accountability in government is paramount to building an ecosystem where the people and businesses of this province can be successful. Core to our election platform is the call for concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of strategic goals and publicly publish these targets to ensure transparency.

“Vote Prosperity further articulates the need for government to operate in a fiscally responsible fashion, to ensure that we can finance the operations of government now and into the future.”

For more information about the Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s Vote Prosperity platform, please visit our website.

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Fiscal Transparency and Accountability Act
In 2004, the Fiscal Transparency and Accountability Act set in motion the obligation of government to verify their numbers through the Auditor General. The objective is that this independent legislative officer should ensure that the people of Ontario have a clear picture of the province’s finances in advance of a general election.

For more information please contact: 
Ceara Copps – Edwards
Communications Advisor
Ontario Chamber of Commerce
647-243-3562
cearacoppsedwards@occ.ca