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Premier Dalton McGuinty has come to the realization after six years in office that he needs to put Ontario's largest agencies on a shorter leash, and has given the province's Integrity Commissioner new oversight on the travel and entertainment spending of employees at these entities.

Acting Integrity Commissioner Lynn Morrison and her tiny staff of nine will assume responsibility for vetting expense reports for 23 agencies and boards that employ nearly 44,000. The commissioner's office now reviews about 200 expense claims a month submitted by cabinet ministers, opposition leaders and their staff.

“An expansion of this mandate makes sense, and I've accepted this responsibility, subject to development of a legislative framework to give this office the mandate and authority to perform this work,” Ms. Morrison said in a statement yesterday.

The commissioner's office is trying to “get a handle” on how much the workload will increase and how many additional employees it will need to hire, said Valerie Jepson, counsel at the office.

Premier Dalton McGuinty announced the new rules yesterday, a day after the province's second-largest agency, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., became a lightning rod for corporate excess. Mr. McGuinty said he has made progress in increasing the government's accountability since becoming Premier in October of 2003. But he acknowledged that the task of doing the same with the province's 600 agencies, boards and commissions that operate at arm's length from government is a work in progress.

“We have done a pretty good job inside of government,” he said at a news conference. “The challenge is what about all those entities, what do we need to do to bring them to heel?”

The new oversight rules will apply to the 23 largest agencies, boards and commissions with responsibilities ranging from keeping the lights on in Ontario to selling alcoholic beverages and managing real estate assets. The lottery corporation and eHealth Ontario, both of which have been embroiled in scandal over lavish spending on travel and entertainment, are also included.

Many government entities have devised their own policies for expenses related to business entertaining, travel and meals. Others follow the government's rules for the province's public service, resulting in a patchwork of practices.

For example, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario and the Ontario Power Authority follow the government's travel, meal and hospitality expenses directive, which bans employees from claiming expenses for alcoholic beverages during dinner meetings with colleagues. But they are permitted to claim “reasonable” expenses for alcohol at hospitality events as long as the amount does not exceed that for food. The directive also says priority should be given to Ontario wines and spirits.

The lottery corporation asked to be exempt from this directive in 2007, but the government refused. Nevertheless, many employees there rang up huge bar tabs dining with colleagues.

Mr. McGuinty's office could not say exactly whether the Integrity Commissioner would have to approve each receipt and expense claim filed by employees in the 23 agencies listed, whether it would simply draft new expenses policies for those groups, or whether it would devise something in between.

Len Brooks, a business ethics professor with the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Business, said more oversight is a good idea – but placing too much red tape around expense filings could become a “bureaucratic nightmare.”

“You can publish a policy, you can direct that it be enforced, you can monitor the enforcement,” he said. “You don't have to have all the paperwork going through a particular location.

Opposition members said the government's steps do not go far enough. Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak called for the resignations of all cabinet ministers who have been in charge of the lottery corporation since the Liberals took office in 2003.

“What taxpayers want to see is a minister's head on the chopping block. ... That sends a signal awfully quickly,” he said.

New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath said the added layer of scrutiny doesn't assuage concerns about widespread illicit spending among government agencies.