N.S. auditor general once again questions value of over-budget spending
Nova Scotia’s Auditor General Kim Adair has tried and failed once again to convince the Houston government to change the way it spends over and above what’s budgeted, as well as the way it accounts for the additional appropriations.
Houston government rejects four out of five of report’s recommendations
Nova Scotia’s auditor general has once again called on the provincial government to change the way it spends money over and above what’s budgeted, and the Houston government has once again dismissed her concerns and rejected four out of five of her recommendations.
In a report released Tuesday, Kim Adair has called “over-budget spending” a process that “lacks accountability and transparency.”
The report, Adair noted, comes at a time of record-breaking additional appropriations of $1.6 billion in 2022-23 and $1.1 billion last year.
Additional appropriations are approved by cabinet alone and do not have to be brought back to the legislature for debate, a process required by Parliament and every other province in Canada.
“This means the legislature, and therefore, Nova Scotians, have limited ability to hold the government accountable for this spending,” Adair wrote in her report.
More to come.
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