Auditor general blasts Dexter government for excessive secrecy
Posted Jun 2, 2010 09:50:35 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Nova Scotia’s auditor general has issued another scathing report taking the Dexter government to task for a “pervasive policy of secrecy.”
Jacques Lapointe says in his June 2010 report that the government is “consistently hiding information” from him.
Lapointe set out to audit financial assistance to business provided through Nova Scotia Business Inc. and the Industrial Expansion Fund.
Lapointe says cabinet’s executive council office instructed the two groups, which hand out millions of dollars to businesses every year, to withhold more than 200 documents relevant to the audit.
As a result, the auditor says he has denied an opinion on these operations – the “most severe audit sanction” available to him.
In addition, Lapointe says both NSBI and IEF acted in contravention of the Auditor General Act, which constitutes disregard for public accountability.
The report also examines mental health services, saying only 14 per cent of mental health standards are being met.
The Department of Environment took some criticism with the auditor general saying contaminated sites in the province aren’t being adequately managed.
