Whitehorse – The Standing Committee on Public Accounts of the 35th Yukon Legislative Assembly has released its Eighth Report - Yukon Public Accounts 2023-2024, its Ninth Report – Procurement and Contracting and, its Tenth Report – Status Report.
The publication of these three reports is part of this committee’s continued commitment to fulfilling its responsibility to examine the government’s expense of public funds. The all-party committee is proud of having set a new standard for transparency and accountability, one that it hopes future iterations of the committee will uphold and improve on.
Eighth Report – Yukon Public Accounts 2023-2024
In its review of the 2023-2024 Public Accounts, the committee noted that this year marked the first time that Yukon has been in a net financial debt position on a consolidated basis. While no specific recommendation was issued, the committee wanted to highlight this development.
The committee believes progress has been made on the recommendation contained in the September 2024 report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and issued one further recommendation that the Department of Finance continue to address issues necessary to facilitate earlier tabling of the Yukon Public Accounts.
Ninth Report – Procurement and Contracting
The Office of the Auditor General of Canada released a performance audit report on procurement and contacting in Yukon on November 26, 2024. The actions of the Department of Highways and Public Works and 16 government organizations were examined. The Auditor General made several recommendations which were all accepted and endorsed by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.
In its ninth report, the committee made its own recommendations and noted that it expects to see the government make progress on addressing the issues highlighted in the Auditor General’s report.
In the report, the committee makes 3 recommendations:
Recommendation No. 1: THAT the Department of Highways and Public Works provide the Standing Committee on Public Accounts with detailed information on how the government will require and document in procurement decisions the market research and information on First Nations participation.
Recommendation No. 2: THAT the Department of Highways and Public Works provide the Standing Committee on Public Accounts with an updated plan incorporating the department’s actions to monitor the implementation of its conflict-of-interest policies and provide consequences for non-compliance.
Recommendation No. 3: THAT the Department of Highways and Public Works provide the Standing Committee on Public Accounts with a status update on the collection of data and monitoring of procurement outcomes.
Tenth Report - Status Report
In its tenth report, the committee reviewed what progress had been made by departments on the recommendations contained in previous reports from the committee and the Auditor General of Canada. Specifically, the report examines developments following the reports of the Auditor General of Canada on mental health services in rural Yukon, kindergarten through grade 12 education in Yukon, and Yukon housing.
The committee acknowledged the progress that has been made by the departments and anticipates that future Public Accounts Committees will want to follow further developments.
The three reports are now available on the committee’s webpage.
The reports will be tabled in the Legislative Assembly when it next sits.