Auditor general says N.S. making progress on past recommendations, but issues remain

Michael Gorman · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 15, 2025 10:02 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Nova Scotia's auditor wide says the provincial authorities is doing a amended occupation pursuing up connected recommendations from reports, but determination is inactive enactment to bash successful definite areas.

Kim Adair released a followup study connected Tuesday that looks astatine the presumption of recommendations from show audits successful 2020, 2021 and 2022. In a quality release, she noted that the authorities has been capable to summation its three-year completion mean from 60 to 80 per cent.

"The government's committedness to carrying retired the recommendations shows it values the enactment and the recommendations made by the office," Adair said successful the release.

The report shows that 70 per cent of recommendations from 2020 (14 of 20) are present complete. After 3 years, the authorities has completed each of the recommendations from 2021, portion 74 per cent of the 2022 recommendations (42 of 57) are present complete.

Work inactive to do

Adair's study does item what she believes are outstanding recommendations.

They include:

• Two retired of 5 recommendations from a 2020 audit connected contaminated sites. Public Works inactive doesn't person a implicit inventory of known and perchance contaminated sites nether provincial responsibility, and a risk-based attack to prioritize those sites is inactive not complete. In response, the section says required policies person been developed and are being finalized done moving groups, but determination is nary timeline for completion. 

• None of the 4 recommendations related to a 2020 audit connected the QEII redevelopment task are complete. That includes the calls for Build Nova Scotia to implicit mitigation strategies and ensuring the maestro program reflects identified idiosyncratic needs. Build Nova Scotia says that enactment is underway and volition beryllium implicit betwixt this twelvemonth and 2031, depending connected the presumption of task work.

• Of the 20 recommendations successful a 2022 audit connected oversight and absorption of government-owned housing, 12 stay incomplete. That includes not assessing the eligibility criteria and screening process to find who gets housing, and not implementing a lease renewal process that verifies if tenants stay eligible for nationalist housing. The Growth and Development Department responded, saying that the enactment is underway and astir of it volition beryllium implicit successful the adjacent fiscal year.

The study besides draws attraction to the information that Public Works inactive has not made bully connected 5 of 7 recommendations from a 2019 audit on prime absorption of span projects successful the cardinal and occidental districts of the province.

The section responded by saying it's making advancement and expects to person the bulk of the recommendations implicit aboriginal this year.

• Read the afloat AG report

Adair's study follows efforts by the Progressive Conservative authorities during the wintertime league astatine Province House to walk authorities that would person fixed the legislature the quality to occurrence the auditor wide without origin if it had two-thirds enactment of House.

It besides wanted to springiness furniture ministers the quality to suppress portion of oregon each reports from the auditor general.

Premier Tim Houston backed down from the program successful the look of heated disapproval from Adair, absorption MLAs and members of the public.