Tax watchdog wants Ontario Northland subsidy reviewed; annual reports absent - Yahoo! Canada News: "TORONTO - An 'essential' Crown corporation that has failed to disclose its annual reports for the last five years will right that wrong shortly, Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle said Friday as he tried to deflect 'pot shots' about subsidies for the money-losing Ontario Northland Transportation Commission.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation wants the province to reconsider nearly $20 million in annual subsidies for the commission, which operates bus, freight, passenger rail and high-speed Internet services in northern Ontario.
The company has issued regular financial statements, but hasn't released an annual report since 2002, and has previously shown losses of as much as $1 million a month, said Kevin Gaudet, director of the federation's Ontario chapter.
Given that, the government ought to reconsider whether its investment is worthwhile, Gaudet said.
'We don't have much insight into how well (the annual subsidy) was being spent or how well we think it ought to be spent.'
In 2006, Ontario's auditor general also expressed concerns about a lack of annual reports being filed by the province's Crown corporations and said regular public reporting was 'of paramount importance.'
'Doing so in a timely manner enhances the transparency of the actions taken and the results achieved by the agencies, thereby strengthening agency accountability,' Jim McCarter wrote in his 2006 report."
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