WINNIPEG – The Manitoba government has failed to provide legislators with enough information to assess its decentralization initiative, the provincial auditor says.
In her annual report, Carol Bellringer said the activities and results of the decentralization program, implemented by the Filmon government in 1990, were not adequately reported to the Legislative Assembly.
“We also concluded that insufficient information was being gathered and analyzed in order to properly measure the success and effectiveness of the decentralization initiative,” Bellringer said.
The government’s plan to relocate 692 jobs to rural regions is about 80 percent completed. The initiative has included moving Manitoba Agriculture’s soils and crops branch to Carman, and the Manitoba Agricultural Credit Corporation head offices to Brandon.
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Bellringer said only $1.4 million of the $8.5 million earmarked to cover the cost of moving government jobs to rural areas has been tapped. But she said her committee also recognized that a large part of the costs were covered from within the departments affected.
Deadline urged
She urged the government to provide a full accounting of the program to the Legislature by the end of the fiscal year in March. The need for more complete and timely information was a common theme in Bellringer’s report, her second since her appointment as chief provincial auditor in 1991.
She said it is not her role to decide the effectiveness or worthiness of government strategies, but to ensure there is enough information for politicians to make that assessment.
But Bellringer said her staff has observed a general willingness among government employees to provide the best service they can with the limited resources available.
“The public sector we see out there delivering services to the public has the public interest in mind,” Bellringer said. “We’re seeing in every program they go into an increased focus on the kind of planning it takes to get the job done.”
