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Holding Ottawa accountable for its management of risk.

Article Excerpt
Ottawa is urged to get on with the job of implementing its Integrated Risk Management Framework. The Auditor General finds that little progress has been made since the IRMF was adopted by the federal government in 2001 to effectively manage its vast and varied operations. Full implementation is seen as needed to create a risk-smart workforce and public service culture that will promote innovation, protect public interest, maintain public confidence, and benefit all Canadians. Inadequate immigration controls are singled out for urgent need of effective risk management, although progress in overseas monitoring of immigration applicants is noted. Speech to the Empire Club of Canada, Toronto, April 30, 2003.

I would like to talk to you about risk management. I am very conscious that the abstract concept of risk is taking on ever more concrete meanings in our daily lives.

New diseases like SARS and the West Nile virus have heightened our awareness of threats to our well-being. And have compelled us all to carefully think through how we will manage such risks, as individuals and as a collective.

A few weeks ago I tabled a report in Parliament that looked at how federal government departments are managing risk.

As Auditor General, one of my key priorities is to promote an effective public service. I believe that good risk management is fundamental to good management and to serving the public effectively.

In my time here today, I'd like to talk about what the federal government can do to step up its efforts. I'll draw some examples from my recent report of where the government needs to manage risks better, and where it is doing well.

Risk management and public sector

Almost nothing we do in life is risk free. Taking risks is part and parcel of being human. The "great American philosopher" Homer Simpson even goes so far as to say that taking stupid risks is what makes life worth living! I can't say I share THAT belief!

To deal with uncertainty, we all actively manage risks every day -- both large and small -- as we go about our business and live our lives.

We manage risks when we bring an umbrella to work in the morning, when we buckle up our seatbelts, when we have our children immunized, when we invest in a particular stock, when we move to another city to accept a more...

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