Pilot training program is now working better but National Defence is still not using all the training it pays for
Chapter 3, May 2006 Report of the Auditor General
Ottawa, 16 May 2006—National Defence has made satisfactory progress in resolving problems found in a 2002 audit of the NATO Flying Training in Canada program, but the Department is still unable to enroll enough pilots in the program to use all the training available, according to the Auditor General, Sheila Fraser, in her Status Report tabled today in the House of Commons.
The NATO Flying Training in Canada program provides training to Canadian and international military student pilots who will fly helicopters, multi-engine aircraft, and jets. It involves a contract signed with a private sector firm in 1998 for $2.8 billion (now valued at $3.4 billion) to train pilots over a period of 20 years.
A previous audit found that National Defence had paid $65 million for pilot training it had not obtained in the first years of the program. In December 2005 the government negotiated a settlement with the contractor for the training missed up to December 2002, when the contractor began meeting its obligations. National Defence and Public Works and Government Services Canada now need to ensure that the Crown receives the agreed amounts within a reasonable time.
"The contractor and the government have reached a settlement," said Ms. Fraser. "Now it is up to National Defence to make sure that it uses the spaces it is paying for."
The report says the Department is still struggling to fill training spaces. The audit found that since December 2002, the Crown has paid about $39 million for flying training that it could not use, and this amount could continue to grow as the current slowdown in training continues.
The Auditor General's Status Report, first released in 2002, is one of the reports from the Office of the Auditor General tabled each year in the House of Commons. It follows up on the government's progress in addressing recommendations from previous reports. The Auditor General concludes that progress is either satisfactory or unsatisfactory, taking into account the complexity of the issue and the amount of time that has passed since the original audit.
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The chapter "National Defence—NATO Flying Training in Canada" is available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada Web site.
Information:
Julie Hébert, Communications
Tel.: (613) 952-0213, ext. 6292
E-mail: communications@oag-bvg.gc.ca
