Taxpayers Federation first to call for Hydra House funding to be pulled

WINNIPEG: Almost one month after a scathing report from Manitoba's Auditor General, the Department of Family Services and Housing is cutting funding to Hydra House, a for-profit taxpayer-funded home for disabled adults and children. In an interview with Global Television on August 26, 2004, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) was first to call for Hydra House to have its funding pulled and the residents relocated to another service provider.

"Finally the province has listened to repeated calls from the CTF for some semblance of accountability for the misuse of taxpayer's money by Hydra House executives," stated provincial director Adrienne Batra. "The province's actions today show leadership, something that has been severely lacking in this department over the past number of years," added Batra.

In 1999, the Provincial Auditor had conducted a review of Child and Family Services and raised a red flag for the lack of control over external agencies, including Hydra House - a report that the government sat on and did nothing with. "Even though the province is acting on this file and taxpayers can breathe a short sigh of relief, it does not absolve the current, or the former Minister from responsibility - where were they five years ago when problems first arose " questioned Batra.

In his recent report which covered a five-year period from April 1997 to March 2002, the Auditor General uncovered millions of public dollars were misappropriated courtesy of Hydra executives who spent lavishly on personal vehicles and bonuses. Amongst the findings, one staff member was paid $379,000 over a six-year period with no indication as to what this individual's job actually was, executives gave themselves bonuses of more than $237,000 which was not reported to the CCRA, two Cadillacs were purchased worth over $80,000 and thousands more spent on trips to Florida.

"This is a very good first step taken by the province to pull Hydra House's funding, it is now time to have the Public Accounts committee of the legislature find out exactly why this money was misappropriated, have it paid back, and if necessary, criminal charges should be laid against those individuals that are found to be responsible," concluded Batra.