Prime minister’s department breaks contracting rules

A newly-released audit shows nearly a third of all contracts awarded by the Privy Council Office were drawn up retroactively, in violation of Treasury Board rules implemented by the Conservatives as part of the Accountability Act. Auditors looked at a sample of 70 contracts from the 2,200 the Privy Council Office signed in the 18-month period ending June 2009. Twenty-nine per cent of the sample contracts were issued after work had already begun. A spokesperson for the department, which falls under the prime minister’s authority, says all the audit’s recommendations were implemented after the document was completed in February. However, the problems mirror those of a previous audit from 2002-2003, which showed around half the contracts issued by the Privy Council were improperly sourced and documented.

Winnipeg Free Press