OAG
Recommendation 3.62:
3.62 Recommendation. Given the magnitude of charges related to the
superannuation accounts, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the
Department of Finance Canada should improve the clarity of information on
interest charges by separating, in the Estimates, the projected interest
charges for the market debt from other interest charges in order to improve
transparency. |
Response from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat on the OAG recommendation:
Agreed.
The Department
of Finance Canada will produce for the Estimates a breakdown of interest and
other costs, starting with the 2012–13 Estimates, which the Treasury
Board of Canada Secretariat will publish. |
Related actions to be taken by TBS further to the
response to the OAG:
Action has been
completed. Interest on unmatured debt is presented as a separate line as a
statutory item for the Department of Finance beginning in the 2012-13 Main
Estimates. |
OAG
Recommendation 3.72:
3.72 Recommendation. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the
Department of Finance Canada should report, in a consolidated manner, clear
and understandable information on the public sector pension plan liabilities
(including supporting methodology and assumptions) and should explain their
impact on the government’s finances. |
Response from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat on the OAG recommendation:
Agreed.
The Public
Accounts of Canada is intended to provide clear and understandable summary
information on the government’s public sector pension plan liabilities and
their impact on the government’s financial results. The Treasury Board of
Canada Secretariat will work with the Department of Finance Canada to look at ways of improving the presentation of public sector pension plan
information in the Public Accounts, starting with the 2013 Public
Accounts. |
Related actions to be taken by TBS further to the response
to the OAG:
Proposed
changes related to the public sector pension plan information in the Public
Accounts have been provided to OSFI, the Department of Finance and OCHRO.
Consultation with these stakeholders is currently underway. The changes will
be finalized during the summer 2013 and will be audited by the Office of the
Auditor General as part of the annual audit of the consolidated financial
statements of the Government of Canada. The signatories (Comptroller
General, Secretary, Deputy Receiver General and Deputy Minister of Finance)
will approve the consolidated financial statements by August 2013. These audited
financial statements will be made public once tabled in Parliament no later
than December 31, 2013. |