AG Wraps Nunavut On The Knuckles

Mulder

Being tied up in my new job, I must have missed this release by the Auditor General’s Office. On Feb 21st, Sheila Fraser’s office gave Nunavut a wrap on the knuckles with regard to their financial reporting. Three things from the news release stand out quite clearly.

1 – “Financial management is certainly stronger now than when Nunavut was created,” says Ms. Fraser in the report’s preface. “However, overall, financial management is weak and fragile. It has not adequately reduced the risk of error, bad decisions, or fraud.”

2 – Ms. Fraser calls for strong solutions. “The government could continue to try small changes as it has done for the past six years,” she says. “However, this approach has not worked so far, and there is no reason to believe that it will work in the future.”

3 -The report contains three key recommendations to strengthen financial controls and improve Nunavut’s financial management. According to the report, the government needs to

  • close gaps in its accounting systems;
  • review its accounting structures, including the physical location of staff—centralizing accounting functions to deal with the root causes of poor financial management; and
  • develop training programs that will give Land Claims Agreement beneficiaries the opportunity to become professional accountants and prepare for senior financial management positions

If I didn’t know better, Sheila Fraser, with her penny pinching ways, is trying to seduce me through the Auditor Generals office!! (shhh, don’t tell my wife)