$550M in errors, and $6B 'under-reporting': Here's what an audit of the B.C. government's financial statements turned up
An audit of the B.C. government's spending revealed $6 billion in under-reported revenue, and $550 million in errors impacting the deficit.
The report from the provincial Office of the Auditor General, released Tuesday, looked into the Horgan Government's summary of financial statements.
And Auditor General Michael Pickup said the end result of the investigation was that the office disagrees with how the NDP has presented its financial accounts.
"It is important for government to record revenue according to (public sector generally accepted accounting principles) to create consistency in financial reporting and allow the financial statements of the Province to be more easily compared with most other jurisdictions. By under-reporting revenues by $6 billion, the government's summary financial statements do not give a clear picture of the Province's financial position," he wrote in a news release.
Errors made in the province's financial statements required adjustments, according to the report, but are considered to be unintentional. It is important to note that the AG's office did not identify any fraud during its audit.
“We have to have proper reporting and proper accounting,” said Mike Bernier, the finance critic for the BC Liberal Party. “When we go through the budgeting process, we’ve seen how far off (the NDP) have been on most of their projections.”
The full report is posted online for those interested in more information, but the following topics were highlighted by Pickup's office.
$6 BILLION IN REVENUE
The AG report suggests the province under-reported its revenues by $6 billion. As mentioned in the quote above, this was largely due to the way its financial statements were reported, which was not consistent with the way others in the public sector do their accounting.
At the end of every fiscal year, the government is tasked with combining all of its financial information and producing a consolidated set of statements. This information is used to diagnose the financial health of the province.
Among the key issues with the NDP's reporting were the consideration of which organizations should be included, the AG said.
There were also issues with personal income tax revenue estimates and the impact of the pandemic.
$550 MILLION IN ERRORS
The AG's office said the errors identified in the audit with an impact on the provincial deficit added up to $550 million.
These errors were fixed, Pickup said, but only after they were flagged.
"Simply put, this means that without the audit, there would have been errors significantly affecting the financial statements."
$66-MILLION WRITE-OFF
The AG wrote in his report that the Provincial Health Services Authority, which buys supplies for the health sector and sells them to B.C.'s health authorities, appropriately wrote off $66 million for the value of personal protective equipment (PPE) that ultimately could not be sold.
CTV News reported previously that the PHSA faced allegations of misspending in part due to this PPE, which was considered faulty.
$850-MILLION HOSPITAL SALE
Among the AG's "other financial matters of interest" is the sale of St. Paul's Hospital by Providence Health Care Society.
The Vancouver property and buildings were sold for $850 million, and the title will be transferred in 2027.
The AG's office looked over the aspects of the sale, and found that it agreed with how this was reported.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Travis Prasad
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.