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Government of Alberta and Ministry Annual Reports

Summary: what we found in our audits

Performance reporting

• Financial statements Unqualified

opinion for government and 20 ministries

Our auditor’s reports on the Government of Alberta’s consolidated financial statements, and on all 20 ministry financial statements are unqualified.

• Performance measures One exception—

Measuring Up;

Exceptions in 4 ministries

We found one exception when we applied specified auditing procedures to the performance measures in Measuring Up—see page 186. We found 4 exceptions in 4 of 20 ministries when we applied specified auditing

procedures to ministry performance information in the 2006–2007 ministry annual reports—see page 186.

Overview

This section highlights the results of our examination of the Government of Alberta Annual Report for the year ended March 31, 2007. The Annual Report has two parts—Consolidated Financial Statements and Measuring Up.

Consolidated Financial Statements provides an overall accounting of the government’s revenue and spending, and assets and liabilities. Measuring Up reports on the progress that the government has made towards achieving its goals.

Government business plan, fiscal plan and annual report

The Government of Alberta Strategic Business Plan in Budget 2006 includes Alberta’s vision, 20 year strategic plan, and a three-year government business plan. The Business Plan identifies the goals, key strategies, links to ministry business plans, costs, and performance measures and targets. It identifies 14 goals, with strategies and measures for each goal. The government’s Fiscal Plan outlines the consolidated budget to achieve the desired results in the business plan. The Government of Alberta Annual Report shows the results achieved against the measures and targets in the business plans.

Volume 1—Audits and recommendations Government of Alberta and Ministry Annual Reports

20 ministries contribute to government results

The Alberta government has 20 ministries. Ministers and deputy ministers are responsible for managing their ministries and meeting government goals.

Ministry business plans and annual reports provide information on the ministry’s contribution to government results.

2006–2007

financial results In 2006–2007, the Government of Alberta received approximately $38.5 billion in revenue and spent approximately $29.5 billion. The following summarizes the significant revenues and expenses:

(millions of dollars) Revenues

Income and other taxes $ 14,696

Non-renewable resource revenue 12,260

Transfers from Government of Canada 3,077

Net investment income 3,013

Other 5,511

38,557

Expenses

Health 10,878

Education 7,976

Social services 2,931

Other 7,880

29,665 Excess of revenues over expenses for the year $ 8,892

Government

website For more information on the government and its programs, see its website at www.gov.ab.ca.

Scope: what we did in our audits

We audited the government’s consolidated financial statements and all ministry financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2007.

We applied specified auditing procedures to the government’s performance measures reported in the Measuring Up section of the government’s annual report and in all ministry annual reports.

Volume 1—Audits and recommendations Government of Alberta and Ministry Annual Reports

Our audit findings and recommendations

1. Performance reporting 1.1 Financial statements

Unqualified opinion on consolidated financial statements

We issued an unqualified auditor’s report on the government’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2007.

These consolidated financial statements include the following entities of the government:

departments—20

regulated funds—14

provincial agencies—35

commercial enterprises—4

commercial Crown-controlled corporation—1

non-commercial Crown-controlled corporations—2

Offices of the Legislative Assembly—6

school jurisdictions—75

• universities—4

• colleges—14

• technical institutes and the Banff Centre—3

• regional health authorities and other health boards—12 This list does not include the subsidiaries of provincial agencies, commercial enterprises, and Crown-controlled corporations.

Crown-controlled SUCH sector organizations

The consolidated financial statements include the financial results of Crown-controlled SUCH sector organizations using the modified equity basis of accounting. SUCH is an acronym for schools, universities,

colleges and hospitals, but the term is used to describe a much broader list of organizations, including school boards, technical institutes, regional health authorities, and other health boards.

Unqualified opinions on financial statements

Our auditor’s reports on the financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2007 of all 20 ministries are unqualified. For the first time, the ministries of Advanced Education and Technology, Education, and Health and Wellness included the financial results of the Crown-controlled SUCH sector organizations in their 2006–2007 ministry consolidated financial statements using the modified equity method of accounting.

The modified equity method of consolidation is allowed as a transition to line-by-line consolidation, which will be required for the year ending March 31, 2009.

Volume 1—Audits and recommendations Government of Alberta and Ministry Annual Reports

Net assets would have increased by

$10.4 billion

Under line-by-line consolidation, the government’s capital assets would have been fully consolidated so net assets at March 31, 2007 would have increased by approximately $10.4 billion.

Improved

readability We commend the Ministry of Treasury Board’s management for its efforts in improving the readability of the consolidated financial statements. We believe this should be an ongoing effort for the Ministry. All financial statements issued for entities within the government reporting entity should be relevant and readable, and still comply with the disclosure requirements of public sector accounting standards.

1.2 Performance measures

One exception in our report on Measuring Up

We found one exception when we applied specified auditing procedures to the performance measures in Measuring Up. There was no data reported for the measure Support for Albertans with Severe Disabilities – Number of working days between completed application and decision for AISH

applicants. The government developed and implemented an electronic tracking system in April 2006 to assist in gathering information for this measure, but the data won’t be complete until next year. As a result, we could not complete our specified auditing procedures for this measure.

Exceptions in our reports for 4 ministries

We found no exceptions when we completed specified auditing procedures on the performance information in the 2006–2007 ministry annual reports for 17 ministries. However, our reports for 4 ministries (Agriculture and Food, Children’s Services, Seniors and Community Supports and

Sustainable Resource Development) noted exceptions. These exceptions are described in the sections for those ministries in this Annual Report.