| NOTE:
A shorter version of this story also ran in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix.
Canadian Press and Sun Media also ran similar stories.
PUBLICATION: The Ottawa
Citizen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Top bureaucrat feared political impact of gun registry overruns, MPs told: Accountant recalls senior official didn't want to affect election -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A senior bureaucrat overseeing the controversial gun registry didn't want to go to Parliament for more money to cover cost overruns two years ago for fear that it would affect the 2004 federal election, the government's former top accountant said yesterday. John Wiersema told the Commons public accounts committee yesterday that Margaret Bloodworth told a meeting of senior bureaucrats in February 2004 that she didn't relish asking Parliament for more money because the firearms centre was over budget because of the "implications" for the campaign. At the time, the highly respected Ms. Bloodworth was deputy minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. She has since been made associate secretary to cabinet and the second-highest ranking bureaucrat in the federal government. Yesterday, Ms. Bloodworth, who also appeared at committee, denied any suggestions that she faced political pressure to find a way to avoid to going to Parliament for more money to cover the mounting development costs for the registry's computer system. In fact, all the bureaucrats who testified during the committee's hearings insisted they faced no political direction or interference. "I categorically deny that I or anyone else I was involved with had any intention of misleading Parliament," Ms. Bloodworth told the committee. The committee, however, failed to directly ask Ms. Bloodworth if Mr. Wiersema's account of the meeting was true. She later refused to comment further when pressed by reporters after the meeting. "I'm not going to answer anything further," she said. "I have said what I have to say." The question of political interference is one of the issues at the centre of the committee's probe to determine who was responsible for the decision to conceal the true cost of the firearms registry from Parliament. It re-opens many of the thorny accountability issues that bedeviled the Gomery inquiry, including whether senior bureaucrats make decisions based on what they think their political bosses want. Mr. Wiersema, who is now the deputy auditor general, told the committee that he believed $21.8 million in computer development costs should have been reported as part of the firearms centre's budget for fiscal 2003-2004. Auditor General Sheila Fraser came to the same conclusion in her recent audit of the Canada Firearms Centre. Mr. Wiersema said his strong views were well known and were rejected by other senior bureaucrats who decided to use an accounting treatment that allowed them to defer booking the $21.8 million until the following fiscal year. By doing that, the centre avoided the embarrassing and politically explosive situation of having to reveal the extra costs and go back to Parliament for more money for the controversial program. "I can almost quote the statement because it did stand out in my mind," said Mr. Wiersema when pressed by MPs for his recollection of the meeting. "I believe Madame Bloodworth made the comment that 'I cannot recommend that to my minister because it will have implications for the upcoming election. '... It was at that point that it became clear to me that my view was not going to carry the day on this." Mr. Wiersema said the accounting decision is one of the reasons he decided to quit his job as comptroller general and return to the auditor general's office. He recused himself from any involvement in Ms. Fraser's recent audit of the firearms centre other than he was interviewed as part of the probe. Ms. Bloodworth and former Treasury Board secretary Jim Judd were the last key witnesses called to testify in the committee's probe. Previous witnesses included several current and former deputy ministers from Justice, Treasury Board, Comptroller General's Office and the firearms centre. The accounting treatment of the $21.8 million came to light during Ms. Fraser's latest report. She argued the failure to book the computer development costs in the 2003-2004 was a blatant violation of the government's accounting policy and kept Parliament in the dark about its true costs. Ms. Bloodworth testified she asked the Justice Department for a legal opinion on how to handle the issue because the gun registry was considering a different accounting treatment from the previous year and bureaucrats seemed confused about whether the cost incurred was a liability or a debt. The centre eventually relied on that legal opinion when making its decision to put off booking the $21.8 million until the next fiscal year. Some MPs on the committee believe bureaucrats hid the embarrassing cost overruns under orders from their ministers and are now taking the fall for their political masters. "This was a political decision, not a bureaucratic decision. The bureaucrats were asked to find some way to justify this," said Conservative MP John Williams. "We never had clear direct statements saying the ministers were not informed. Therefore, I am of the opinion that ministers were informed and they (the bureaucrats) are taking the fall and protecting the ministers." The committee has no plans to call then-public safety minister Anne McLellan or any of her cabinet colleagues to testify. Liberal MP Shawn Murphy, who chairs the committee, said there isn't a "scintilla of evidence" of political interference. He said he expects bureaucrats anticipate possible political fallout of their decisions, especially on a file as controversial as gun registry over the past decade. "Everything to do with the gun registry was controversial," he said. "The fact that $20 million was allocated from one year to another wouldn't get three seconds of time from some deputy ministers in a normal department, but this was a very controversial issue and that's obviously the attention you would expect." But Mr. Murphy said Mr. Wiersema's assertions about Ms. Bloodworth drives home the "systemic" problems in government decision-making and the need for bureaucrats to keep records about key meetings and decisions. |