It is extremely rare for my office to not include its recommendations in a report. Yes, I wanted it to be taken seriously and for parliamentarians, as you are doing here, to wonder why we took such an unusual position in an audit.
When an audit is glowing, no recommendations are needed. However, in this case, I didn't issue any recommendations because the regulations are clear. I don't think I need to tell the public service and the government to follow their own policies. Rather, I'm encouraging them to assess the reasons behind the deficiencies we noted, because these findings are troubling. The regulations are there to ensure transparency and accountability and to make sure taxpayers are getting good value for money.