Mr. Speaker, public accounts are the audited consolidated financial statements of a government. The consolidated financial statements represent the financial position of the Government of the Northwest Territories.

The committee and the Auditor General noted that the Government's public accounts and most of our territorial corporations' annual reports are rarely tabled in a timely manner. The public and Members of the Legislative Assembly have a need for timely, accurate and relevant information on the financial condition of the government so they can effectively hold the government accountable for the way in which it manages and spends public money.

The Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight conducted an interjurisdictional survey to determine if public accounts for the fiscal year 1998-1999 have been submitted in a timely manner and whether other Canadian jurisdictions included unaudited statements which may accelerate the tabling process. Of the jurisdictions surveyed in Exhibit 1.0, only Alberta and the Northwest Territories required audited statements without exception. As of June 4, 2001, the results are as follows:

• • in the jurisdiction of the Northwest Territories, our documents were tabled on the 30th of June, 2000;
• • in the Yukon, the documents were tabled on the 1st of November, 1999;
• • in British Columbia, they were tabled on the 9th of May, 2000;
• • in Alberta, the individual departments tabled at different times;
• • in Saskatchewan, volumes 1 and 2 were tabled on the 7th of December, 1999, and Financial Statements Compendium Parts A and B were tabled on the 26th of May, 2000;
• • in Manitoba, volumes 1 through 3 were tabled on the 30th of November, 1999, and volume 4 on the 3rd of August, 2000;
• • in Ontario, the documents were tabled on the 15th of October, 1999;
• • New Brunswick does not formally table their documents;
• • Nova Scotia tabled theirs on the 15th of December, 1999;
• • Prince Edward Island tabled volume 1 on the 7th of December, 1999 and volume 2 on the 14th of February, 2000; and finally
• • Newfoundland tabled their document on the 14th of December, 1999.

The committee noted that the Northwest Territories tabled its 1998-1999 Public Accounts 15 months after their March 31, 1999 year end. Only Manitoba tabled their 1998-1999 Public Accounts later than the Northwest Territories.

An interjurisdictional survey of the 1999-2000 Public Accounts was also conducted, and is included in Appendix C of this report. As of June 4, 2001, jurisdictions that tabled later than the Northwest Territories -- which tabled on February 27, 2001 -- were Prince Edward Island, which tabled on March 23, 2001; Nova Scotia, which tabled its final Public Accounts component on April 4, 2001; and Nunavut and British Columbia, which have not yet tabled their reports.

In recognition of the additional efforts required to improve the timely submission of the public accounts, the Auditor General's Office suggested that a progressive approach be taken. For example, the 2000-2001 Public Accounts may be submitted by October 31, 2001 and in the succeeding year by September, 2002 and so on. Committee members note that the tabling of the public accounts prior to review of the government's business plans would be beneficial.

The Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight and the Auditor General's Office encourage the government to increase the readability of its public accounts and to regularly produce a straightforward and user-friendly document based upon performance indicators that will give the public and Members of the Legislative Assembly a clearer picture of where this government stands financially. The government's comptroller general office, which is responsible for the compilation of our public accounts, agreed.

In light of these significant reporting and tabling issues, the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, upon the advice of the Auditor General's Office, made the following recommendations: