But there`s no harm done in any case - Ternent went on to say that there was no negative consequences for missing the deadline, just a few phone calls from the province inquiring when the statements would be complete. I got the sense that it's not a big deal. I just think there is more to the story and that's what I'm wondering about.
I don't think that it is up to the Treasurer to decide what is important and what is not. Presumably he has performance objectives and one of those objectives is filing completed financial statements within the timelines established by law. The fact that there are no fines or penalities for not doing so doesn't make it ok.
I have worked for a lot of companies in my career and I can say without any hesitation that if the controller was 4 or 5 months late completing statements and the only response was "poop happens" then he/she would be unemployed by the next day.
Why did council wait this long before they asked the tough questions? Unless Monday's Q&A session was for show, why the heck were they not asking the Treasurer the same questions 4 months ago when the statements were actually due?