Nova Scotia's auditor general says 'modern expectations' demand transparency
Michael Pickup says government agencies, boards and commissions should disclose hospitality, travel expense
Nova Scotia's auditor general called out the Department of Finance Wednesday for not monitoring the expenses of some top executives who work for entities including the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation.
Michael Pickup said provincial government agencies, boards and commissions are still not required to disclose hospitality and travel expenses.
Last year, his office urged the Department of Finance to collect expense reports for senior executives. "To date that has not been done," Pickup said. "I think modern expectations for public sector entities require that they should."
NSLC will disclose — if someone asks
A spokeswoman for the NSLC said the government hadn't asked them to do that.
"[We] will comply with any directive our government may issue in this regard," said Denise Corra. "We do voluntarily publish the expenses for our board of directors every quarter."
It's not just the NSLC, Pickup said. Executives at Halifax Harbour Bridges and the Nova Scotia Health Authority, "along with a whole host of other entities, should be disclosing these types of expenses."
He said it's about building public confidence in the officials who run these organizations.
Tourism months late with statements
Pickup also cited issues with the new Nova Scotia Health Authority and Tourism Nova Scotia. The auditor general questioned some of the spending practices of the health authority.
He asked why the health authority took $7 million from a restricted fund to cover payroll and other operating expenses. At the same time, he said, the Department of Health and Wellness owed the authority $70 million.
Pickup said even though the money was extracted using solid accounting practices — and it was repaid — it should never have happened.
$60M advanced to health authority every 2 weeks
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said Wednesday the province gives more than $60 million in advance to the health authority every two weeks to cover operations. However, other things are paid for only once the health authority submits a claim.
She said the $70 million figure reflected such claims, which are paid 30 to 60 days after being filed by the health authority.
Pickup called out Tourism Nova Scotia for failing to deliver its financial statements to the minister of business on time and in accordance with the Tourism Nova Scotia Act.
The statement was to be submitted by June 30, but as of the end of September it still has not been submitted.