The former B.C. Liberal government left behind some questions about the way public servants hand out contracts, and the new government should make sure it runs a tighter ship.
Auditor general Carol Bellringer reported on her examination of the way the Ministry of Justice handled a contract for the Family Maintenance Enforcement Program. That’s the program that collects and issues payments for child and spousal support. Last year, it issued $210 million in support payments.
No one suggests the contractor delivered substandard service, but the auditor did have a problem with the way the ministry managed the contract, which has been held by the same private contractor for 29 years.
“The ministry can’t demonstrate that it has achieved best value for taxpayer money,” Bellringer said.
The concern is that the same might be true of other contracts, so she has asked the Ministry of Finance to investigate, saying ministries have to ensure more oversight of contracts that stretch over years.
In 1988, the government of the day encouraged employees to create private companies to bid on delivering services they had delivered as government employees. That was when the former employee won the contract. No other contractor has secured that contract.
When the contract was posted again in 2006, no one else bid on it. That might seem straightforward, and Bellringer said the ministry followed policy, but she said more could have been done more to level the playing field.
“The ministry did not achieve competition, which is a key principle of fair and open procurement,” she said.
It’s easy to see how this happens, when the ministry is satisfied with a service and it seems reasonable to roll along. Rolling along, however, might not be in the best interest of taxpayers or the people who are served by the Family Maintenance Enforcement Program.
For instance, the contract has not been modified in 10 years and the contractor, which has been paid $160 million over the past 10 years, has regularly requested and received more funding because of increasing program costs. As Bellringer said, when that pattern became clear, it should have been a signal for more oversight.
Attorney General David Eby wants to make sure the government learns from the report and does more to encourage multiple bids on such contracts.
“You have a contract that’s been in place for a long time with a service provider who, for all intents and purposes, appears to be just another office of government,” Eby said.
“But even if it’s easy to make a mistake, we shouldn’t be making them.”
He said he has started reviews of other contracts under his ministry’s purview.
The auditor general’s report is a good reminder to ministers and civil servants that they have to make sure British Columbians are getting the best bang for their buck.
