Pullia Business Consulting

If you feel that in today’s society, people in any position of power are not being held as accountable as they used to in the past, you are not alone. While in this article the focus is on financial accountability at all levels of government as a means of providing a sustainable future, the guiding principles of a new accountability model that I present below, can be applied in any circumstances where the integral elements of effective leadership are required.

As taxpayers for all three orders of government, municipal, provincial and federal, we the people expect that our political representatives exercise proper duty of care and sound judgment in their decision-making process. This includes providing assurance to the taxpayers that they are getting value for their money while providing the necessary services for a good quality of life.

As the Chair of Administrative Services Committee for the City of Thunder Bay between 2014-2018, I chaired the budget meetings and served as Council’s spokesperson on the budget. As we look ahead to a post-Covid19 world, our orders of government not just in Canada but around the world will navigate years of challenging budgets that will deal with extreme financial conditions that did not just happen, but are made much worse by the need for lock-downs and investments in areas of the economy meant to protect the most vulnerable while providing essential services.

While these new circumstances are beyond our control, we must take steps to control our destiny to the greatest extent possible, as if spending money alone was the solution to our problems, Canada would already be out of the woods, having spent per capita more than any other country in the world, but not seeing any more meaningful results compared to anyone else.

It has been my experience as a Cost and Financial Analyst at Kimberly Clark of Canada, Budget Coordinator at Ontario Hydro, and twenty five years as a Business Advisor, that as companies and organizations (including Not-for-Profit) grow to meet new demands of the market and in the case of municipalities, provincial and federal governments, statutory requirements and public expectations, there is also a growing need for a realignment of resources (i.e. better follow-up to make sure that the intended results are achieved, focused internal controls, more collaborations between departments and people, etc.).