Standing Committee on Public Accounts

Comité permanent des comptes publics

For immediate release

Ottawa, December 13, 2017 -

The Board of Directors and management of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation (the Corporation) failed to meet their responsibilities for oversight and management of the Corporation, leaving it exposed to considerable risks in a complex and changing business environment, according to a report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts tabled today in the House of Commons by the Hon. Kevin Sorenson, Chair of the Committee.

In the spring of 2017, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) released a performance audit whose objective was to determine whether the Corporation’s systems and practices selected for examination were providing it with reasonable assurance that its assets were safeguarded and controlled, its resources were managed economically and efficiently, and that its operations were carried out effectively. The audit found many problems with the oversight and management of the Corporation, and in the way its operations were carried out.

Specifically, the OAG found that management disregarded controls such as key policies, procedures, and processes for carrying out its business. There were also significant deficiencies in how human resources were managed. Additionally, its plant’s production flow was not optimal for production efficiency or for the quality of the fish. In this report, the Committee made four recommendations that seek to ensure that the Corporation implements each of its proposed corrective measures in order to properly address the deficiencies identified in the OAG’s audit.