Auditor general’s request not part of the bargain

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This article was published 20/03/2023 (1102 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Professors are rarely at a loss for words.

However, we found ourselves speechless when the office of the auditor general (OAG) issued its press release on March 14. In that press release, the OAG admonished the provincial public service for failing to implement a number of recommendations on several policy files from water safety to post-secondary education. The press release concludes with the OAG “encourage(ing) the public accounts committee to call the responsible entities to a committee meeting to discuss the lack of progress.”

This suggests the OAG is recommending that public servants who are non-partisan employees of the government of Manitoba, and employees of public sector organizations more broadly, should be “invited” to provide an account of their activities.

It is this irresponsible recommendation by the OAG that left us speechless.

Ensuring that government is accountable to citizens involves a lot of moving parts. The OAG has an oversight role in our system of democracy, providing independent information and advice on government operations and public funds to the legislature.

It has an important part to play in accountability and transparency by providing reports, making recommendations and then following up on those recommendations.

The public accounts committee (PAC) is not a typical legislative standing committee. Rather, it is an all-party standing committee that is always chaired by an opposition MLA. The PAC reviews spending of the government of the day to promote greater transparency, so it requires the chairperson to be a member of the opposition party.

To be certain, the PAC is another essential part of our democratic legislature’s ability to pose questions and facilitate dialogue on spending. However, bringing public servants and public sector workers in front of the PAC undermines the public service “bargain” between elected officials and Manitoba public servants.

Our system of government is rooted in the Westminster model, whereby a “bargain” guides the work of the public service and elected officials.

Under this bargain, the public service agrees to be non-partisan and anonymous, in exchange for the ability to build a permanent career without the risk of losing one’s job with a change in government.

It is the minister who is the public face of the department. When things do not go well in the department, it is the minister who stands in the legislature to provide answers and take responsibility for the issue — a critical part of accountability in our system.

This allows politicians to get the best advice from expert public servants when making decisions: a stable, professional public service provides frank advice and then loyally implements decisions made by those elected governments, without worrying that their picture will appear on the front page of the Free Press.

Since ministers are elected members of the legislature, they are accountable to citizens.

Bringing public servants in front of a highly charged political committee, such as the PAC, is not just risky, it would be irresponsible.

In an environment where politicians jockey to score points with the public, the PAC runs the risk of becoming a public blame-and-shame session. Pointing the finger at public servants publicly erodes their anonymity, not to mention their reputations and careers, while allowing the minister to evade responsibility.

What is needed is accountability rooted in learning and continuous improvement, without jeopardizing the bargain.

It was equally surprising that the OAG press release showed little understanding of the constraints of the public sector. Indeed, several of the OAG reports referred to were released during a worldwide pandemic where many resources, both financial and human, were shifted to prevent infections, facilitate vaccinations and support vulnerable people.

While the OAG notes the impact of the pandemic, it fails to acknowledge the deep austerity cuts by the Pallister/Stefanson government that shrank the size of the public sector, leaving fewer to do the work. The OAG’s report also noted that while many of the previous recommendations hadn’t been implemented, entities reported work-in-progress on 81 per cent of these recommendations — indicative of work being done, if not nearly completed.

Accountability is critical in a democracy, but this approach from the OAG must be revisited. Working with the public service and elected officials to understand progress made on the OAG’s recommendations — rather than trying to bring public servants into a committee that risks breaking the bargain that is fundamental to our public sector — will lead to better accountability and better government.

Karine Levasseur is professor and Andrea Rounce is associate professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba.