The following statement was issued today by Joan Marie Aylward, Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board: It was also read in the House of Assembly:

Tabling of annual reports

On March 19, in the 2003 Speech from the Throne, government committed that annual reports for departments and agencies would be tabled during this sitting of the Legislature.

In previous reports to this house, the auditor general has expressed concern over the lack of information being provided to the House of Assembly by Government departments, Crown boards and agencies.

Today, we are taking a major step in addressing the need for further accountability within the public sector.

I am pleased and indeed proud to inform this House that later today I will table the reports of the Department of Finance and Treasury Board for 2001-2002.

Over the coming days, my colleagues will table the annual reports for their departments, and associated boards and agencies, for the 2001-2002 fiscal year.

I thank all our departments, boards and agencies for their cooperation in working with our Accountability Framework.

Annual reporting is just one of many concrete measures taken by this government over the course of our mandate to ensure openness and accountability.

In the very near future, government will release From the Ground Up, the first report from another major accountability tool: the Social Audit of the Strategic Social Plan. The Social Audit, with its extensive, detailed and publicly available Community Accounts, is the first of its kind in Canada.This government has the courage to test itself and to provide the people of the province with the information they need to judge for themselves the work we are doing on their behalf.

2003 03 31                                         2:10 p.m.