Graham Steele: Accountability, nobody does it better than the AG

In an ideal world, the auditor general would look at government operations, shrug his shoulders, and say “Yup, it’s all working the way it’s supposed to.”

I’ve never read a report like that, and yesterday’s was no different.

Michael Pickup, delivering his first report as Nova Scotia’s auditor general, was clear, logical, and tough as he dissected surgical wait times, the Tri County Regional School Board and computer systems at Community Services.

The deficiencies he and his staff found in all three areas are wince-inducing, but at least we can take comfort in the fact that somebody is minding the store on our behalf.

Big problems at Tri-County school board

It was the findings at the Tri-County Regional School Board that really caught my eye.

To be blunt, they’re devastating.

Eventually the status quo peeks around the door, grins that beguiling grin, and is welcomed back inside.- Graham Steele

How about this finding, from page 28: “Although the governing board meets on a regular basis they do not receive sufficient information or spend appropriate effort on the fundamental role of educating students.”

In other words: the school board keeps itself busy, but isn’t doing the one job that really matters.

Or this one, from page 31: “The governing board does not understand the full nature and requirements of its responsibilities and has not told management the information it needs to carry out its responsibilities.”

In other words, the school board doesn’t know what it’s doing, or how to do it. There’s plenty more in the same vein, but you get the idea. Parents with kids in the English-language school system in Digby, Yarmouth, and Shelburne counties should be worried, and demanding answers.

And what if the problems identified by the auditor general stretch beyond the Tri Counties? What would an audit of other school boards reveal?

Impetus for change often fades

Unfortunately, receiving a tough auditor general’s report doesn’t mean the problems will be fixed.

An auditor general report throws the spotlight on an issue for a day, maybe two or three days if the findings are especially bad.

But when the spotlight moves on, so too does the impetus for change.

Politicians and bureaucrats have learned that the simplest way to make an auditor general report go away is to say, on the day of the report’s release, “We agree with all the recommendations.”

And that’s exactly what we heard yesterday from the Tri-County board. It’s the perfect answer, because it can’t be criticized, it doesn’t cost anything to say and accountability is pushed into the future.

But in the end, it’s only words. The truth is that the Nova Scotia government has a remarkably poor record of following through on auditor general recommendations, even the ones it says it agrees with.

People are busy. The spotlight shifts, new issues come up, and resources are thin. Eventually the status quo peeks around the door, grins that beguiling grin, and is welcomed back inside.

In recent years, the auditor general has been highlighting the poor record of implementation. He has, unfortunately, been getting little help from ministers, departments, or central agencies.

The legislature’s public accounts committee, which in theory is the auditor general’s partner in the quest for accountability, is instead the quietest and tamest of watchdogs.

That’s no slight on the current crew. It was ever thus under a majority government.

On probation

To her credit, education minister Karen Casey seems to have realized that the Tri-County audit is an alarm bell that can’t be ignored.

In an unusual, supper-hour news release, Casey announced that she is appointing a ministerial adviser for the Tri-County board. Tri-County is, in effect, on probation.

Their adviser/probation officer will be sending monthly reports to the minister. The minister says the board has six months to shape up (but doesn’t answer the intriguing question “and what if they don’t?”). So at least the auditor general’s report has spurred action.

In an ideal world, the education minister wouldn’t need an audit to tell her that a school board isn’t doing its job. But since we don’t live in that world, we’re lucky to have an independent officer like the auditor general. When it comes to accountability, nobody does it better.