Auditor general slams Nunavut's bookkeeping

Nunavut continually violated federal and its own territorial laws by spending money that wasn't approved by the legislative assembly, says Ottawa's auditor general.

The territory has failed to put basic financial controls in place, making it vulnerable to mistakes, bad decisions and fraud, Sheila Fraser says in a report tabled on Tuesday.

The Nunavut government has more than 2,300 employees and $1 billion in assets, and spends more than $1 billion a year. Most of its funding comes from the federal government.

Yet some of the territory's accounting is done by hand rather than on a computer, said the report.

The government is having trouble recruiting professional accountants, the report says, and one departure can bring part of the government to a standstill for months while it searches for a replacement.

Fraser also questions Nunavut's decision to scatter more than half of its accounting staff among communities outside the capital as part of a decentralization policy to bring jobs to other areas.

Finance Minister David Simailak said the government is working to improve management of its finances.

Simailak is preparing to give his first budget speech on Wednesday.