TORONTO -- Ontario's auditor general says social assistance costs ballooned under the previous Liberal government but the system failed to help recipients become self-reliant.
In her annual report released today, Bonnie Lysyk says the number of Ontario Works cases has increased by almost 25 per cent since 2009, hiking costs up more than 55 per cent to nearly $3 billion.
At the same time, Lysyk says the program only helped 10 to 13 per cent of recipients find work in the last five years.
The report also found the previous minister of transportation improperly interfered with the selection of two GO Transit train stations and that the Liberals spent $62.5 million on advertising last year - 30 per cent of which would not have been approved under more stringent rules that previously existed.
Lysyk further says the government could save money by hiring full-time IT staff instead of relying on consultants for long-term contracts.
Since the Progressive Conservatives formed government in June, the auditor's report deals with the actions of the previous Liberal regime in 15 value-for-money audits.
“A central finding in almost all of the audits this year was that spending of public monies did not consistently result in the cost-effective achievement of anticipated program benefits, or the proactive addressing of program risks,” Lysyk said.
“We also found that, contrary to what people would expect, the government did not always take all steps necessary to ensure that programs are providing financial assistance only to eligible people.”
Peter Graefe, a political science professor at McMaster University, said the report will give the governing Tories more ammunition to criticize their predecessors.
“Usually this is one of the worst days of the year for government,” he said. “But for a new government, particularly replacing one that's been there for 15 years, it's like candy, in the sense that it allows them to further browbeat a Liberal party that is in very weak shape provincially.”
It also gives the Tories excuses to go and make changes in a variety of areas, Graefe said, because “they have this report where the auditor general says that there's been something that hasn't been done right in area X and so under the pretext of responding to that problem they presumably do a number of other changes.”
The auditor's scrutiny of the Ontario Works program will likely be of interest to the government, for example, he said.
“That can be useful in terms of selling their social assistance package that they brought out the other week,” Graefe said.
The Progressive Conservatives laid out a broad vision for social assistance reform last month, promising to cut red tape and encourage people to get back in the job market with a series of changes scheduled to take place over the next 18 months.
People receiving disability support from the Ontario government will be able to keep more of the money they earn as part of the changes, but critics have said it will be harder to qualify for help.
Interim Liberal leader John Fraser said he was worried the auditor's report would be used by the Tories to justify cuts.
The Tory government has already called a commission of inquiry and a financial review to examine the Liberals' spending, as well as a special committee to look into the party's Fair Hydro Plan.
Those measures led Premier Doug Ford's government to declare that the province's deficit is far greater than originally believed, and to call for provincewide belt-tightening.
The Ford government has also put an end to a longtime dispute with the auditor general over accounting methods for two pension plans and the Fair Hydro Plan, saying the province would adopt Lysyk's approach.
