Earlier this year, Bonnie Lysyk left her post as auditor general of Ontario after the expiry of her 10-year term. She was succeeded by Shelley Spence, and, on Tuesday, it was Spence’s turn to release her office’s annual report, which includes both the traditional assessment of Ontario’s public accounts (the Ford government once again received a clean audit) and a much, much lengthier series of performance audits of specific government ministries, policies, and agencies outside the core of government. This, for journalists and opposition MPPs alike, is where the real meat of the report is — and this year is no exception.
This year’s annual report includes damning findings involving the government’s decision to redevelop Ontario Place, calls into question the decision to shut down the Ontario Science Centre, uncovers numerous problems with the way the province conducts land-use planning, raises issues with the decision to close supervised-consumption sites, and suggests that the Toronto District School Board (with its over 240,000 students) is a bit of a financial basket case.
Here are some of the highlights.
Ontario Place redevelopment costs balloon
According to the auditor general’s investigation, the costs of redeveloping provincial lands at Ontario Place have increased to $2.2 billion, with the bulk of the increase coming from land servicing, parking, and public-realm improvements. Spence’s office found that the procurement process for the project was highly irregular, with staff in both the premier’s office and minister’s office meeting with proponents at a number of key stages. The costs of moving the Ontario Science Centre to Ontario Place, meanwhile, have increased by $400 million — more than the savings the government alleged would come from moving the site instead of renovating the existing structure. Spence did say, in her press conference at Queen’s Park on Tuesday morning, that the costs of renovating the existing site have almost certainly increased as well.
Ford government land-use policy is still a mess
Two chapters of this year’s report deal with issues relevant to land-use policy. The Ford government has already been heavily criticized for decisions like opening the Greenbelt for development (a move that was subsequently reversed but is still the subject of an RCMP criminal investigation). The two sections deal with the government’s use of ministerial zoning orders (MZOs) and the funding and mandate of the Ontario Land Tribunal, the body that hears appeals of local planning decisions and was for many years known as the Ontario Municipal Board, or OMB.
The report finds that the Ford government’s processes for using MZOs — often in the name of getting homes built more quickly — have been chaotic and inconsistent: some projects have been approved quickly, while others have languished for years. In some cases, minister’s staff appropriately flagged potential objections; in others, problems raised by municipalities or conservation authorities were not brought to the minister’s attention before the MZOs were approved. In one instance, an MZO was issued despite the fact that the lands didn’t have sewer or water service and that the neighbouring municipality didn’t want to extend its own services.
The OLT, meanwhile, continues to struggle with a backlog of cases despite increased funding from the government and more appointees. Those appointees, however, aren’t without their problems: the auditor general’s report finds that some have apparent conflicts of interest that didn’t prevent them from being appointed as adjudicators to the OLT. Spence did say that her office didn’t find any clear case of an OLT decision being distorted by any conflict of interest.
Ontario’s opioid strategy is out of date (but the new plan has problems, too)
Spence’s report finds that the province’s opioid strategy — first published in 2016 — is badly out of date and that, in any case, the government hasn’t done a good job implementing it. However, Spence also states that the decision this past August to close many supervised-consumption sites was not based on any “thorough, evidence-based business case analysis.” According to the auditor general, the province also isn’t adequately tracking its own benchmarks for its strategy, nor is it adequately monitoring OHIP billing practices from doctors serving people with addictions or naloxone distribution by pharmacies.
The TDSB has many big financial problems
The Toronto District School Board, with 240,000 students, has substantial operating and capital problems in its budget. Violent incidents at the TDSB are higher than they’ve ever been, although still below the provincial average. The board has a large and growing problem with teachers taking sick leave but isn’t formally tracking absences. Overall, financial and capital resources are “not consistently allocated in the most cost-effective or efficient way.” On the capital side, the TDSB has an enormous backlog of deferred maintenance, but thanks to a provincial moratorium on school closures, the board also can’t take the most obvious step of closing under-enrolled schools to reduce its liabilities. The board does have a substantial reserve of over $300 million that could be put toward school repairs, however.
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