Posted by & filed under Auditing, Canadian governments.

Description: In most Canadian jurisdictions, citizens would be upset if their government lost $70 million of hard-earned taxpayers’ dollars. But in a small jurisdiction like New Brunswick, the pain is magnified. On March 24, Auditor General Kim MacPherson, released a report on the NB government’s loss of $70 million for various financial arrangements it had made to support a construction company named Atcon. The report shows that senior civil servants had recommended that Cabinet not support the extension of  $50 million in loan guarantees.

Source: www.atlantic.ctvnews.ca

Date:  March 24, 2015

Link: http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/n-b-on-hook-for-70m-because-cabinet-ignored-atcon-advice-auditor-1.2294209

Discussion Points:

1) What reaction do you have from reading this story?

2) What type of things can the average citizen do to prevent these type of losses from re-occuring?

3) What type of disclosure would a government’s financial statements have to show when these type of guarantees are made?

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