Highlights from the Ontario auditor general's 2017 annual report

Among the highlights: Government financial statements are "unreliable," concealing a deficit of up to $4.5 billion.

Thestar.com
Dec. 6, 2017
By Rob Ferguson

The highlights:

• Sick days by employees at 50 school boards jumped 29 per cent in the last five years to an average of 11.6 days per year, up from 9.
• Lax oversight of power producers by Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator has added hundreds of millions of dollars to hydro bills, including money for staff car washes.
• Government financial statements are "unreliable," concealing a deficit of up to $4.5 billion.
• Ontario is "not fully prepared" for large-scale emergencies given that the last provincial risk assessment was based on world conditions in 2009.
• Ontario pays 70 per cent more than New Zealand for generic medications provided through public drug programs.
• The province spends $19 million a year to maintain 812 vacant government buildings, with 600 of them vacant for an average of eight years.
• Ontario has the one of the largest waiting lists in the country for social housing, at 3.4 per cent of the population.
• Government spending on advertising is at a 10-year high.
• Most cancer patients are getting timely treatment but the full cost of cancer drugs is not covered by OHIP unless patients receive them in a hospital, unlike four other provinces.
• Support services for cancer patients with side effects from treatment are "inadequate," forcing many to emergency rooms at least once.
• Some support programs for agriculture are not meeting farmers' needs, with insurance programs favouring larger farms and leaving small farmers vulnerable.
• The government made progress on 71 per cent of recommendations in last year's auditor report and fully implemented 33 per cent.