Ontario auditor general's 2015 report could contain 'embarrassments' for Liberals

If someone you love gets home care or stays in a nursing home, if you get power from Hydro One, or if your child rides a school bus, you'll want to pay close attention to Wednesday's report from Ontario's government-spending watchdog.

Auditor-general Bonnie Lysyk will report on whether taxpayers are getting value for money from 14 different government programs.

She releases her annual report shortly before noon. The yearly report never fails to provide embarrassment for the government and fodder for the opposition.

There's often a surprise that we find in the auditor-general's reports and so I'm looking very much forward to seeing the work that she's been doing ...Andrea Horwath, Ontario NDP Leader

One highlight this year will be the auditor's final probe into Hydro One. It is no longer under the auditor's mandate because the Wynne government has turned it from a Crown Corporation into a private company by selling shares on the TSX.

The auditor is probing whether Hydro One was run "efficiently and cost-effectively." The auditor makes public the topics of her report in advance of its release.

Health care

One area getting particular attention this year is health care. The auditor will report on the quality of service in both nursing homes and home care, Lysyk has looked into whether inspections are being done consistently at the province's 630 long-term care homes and whether those inspections improve the quality of care.

She has also looked into whether the province does a good job monitoring the companies providing home care. Lysyk will release her audit of the Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs), the regional health bureaucracies that co-ordinate services and distribute spending among hospitals.

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"We're looking forward to see what she's going to uncover because we know health care's an extremely important issue always in this province," NDP leader Andrea Horwath told reporters Tuesday at the Legislature

"There's often a surprise that we find in the auditor-general's reports and so I'm looking very much forward to seeing the work that she's been doing over the last year."

Welfare computer system

One thing Lysyk has been working on this past year: the province's new $240-million computer system for welfare payments, the Social Assistance Management System (SAMS). Shortly after SAMS launched last year, CBC News revealed it had sent nearly $20 million in incorrect welfare payments, which officials had to scramble to reverse or collect.

The auditor will report on how the government managed the launch.

Wednesday's report examines whether the grants and interest-free loans the Ministry of Economic Development gives out to businesses are an efficient use of tax dollars.

The auditor is also probing Ontario's research funding to universities. Lysyk examines whether Ontarians are benefitting from it and whether universities are doing enough to protect and commercialize the results of their research.

The auditor-general's overall job is to look at whether public dollars are being spent efficiently. But the auditor doesn't just look at the money. For instance, this year, Lysyk is probing whether the Ministry of Children and Youth Services and the 47 Children's Aid Societies in the province are providing appropriate services to children in need of protection.

With more than 830,000 kids riding school buses in Ontario, the auditor will report on whether the government and school boards have proper systems in place to ensure they're transported safely. Other topics in the auditor-general's report will include:

• Electricity power system planning
• Infrastructure planning
• Management of contaminated sites
• Mines and minerals program