HALIFAX - Nova Scotia鈥檚 auditor general is vowing to continue her fight to get more accountability for billions of dollars in government spending that isn鈥檛 approved by the provincial legislature.
In a new report released Tuesday, Kim Adair said expenses outside the official budget process rose to $7 billion over the last decade, with the government spending $1.38 billion in the 2023-24 fiscal year that wasn't first authorized by a majority vote in the legislature.
鈥淐hange is needed to ensure MLAs and taxpayers clearly know where all public funds are going,鈥 Adair told reporters.
For the third consecutive year, Adair recommended changes to the province鈥檚 Finance Act that would give more oversight authority to the legislature, something the government has refused to do. She pointed out that Nova Scotia is the only province that doesn鈥檛 require extra spending to be vetted by its legislature, adding that the federal government is also required to take its over-budget spending before Parliament.
鈥淣ova Scotia is unique,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 will make it (the recommendation) every year until it鈥檚 done.鈥
The report says extra-budget spending 鈥 called "additional appropriations" by the provincial government 鈥 accounted for 8.2 per cent of total expenditures in 2023-24 compared to only 1.3 per cent in the 2014-15 fiscal year. In four of the past five fiscal years, government revenues exceeded budget forecasts 鈥 affording the governing party additional money to spend, she said.
The Finance Act should be amended so that new programs or activities 鈥 spending for which must be tabled in the legislature 鈥 are more clearly defined, she said. As well, she said, the act should require government to provide more detail on its spending outside of the budget process.
Meanwhile, Adair's report also highlighted $2.4 billion in untendered contracts issued by Nova Scotia Health and other government departments and agencies over the past five years. That figure includes $291 million issued by the province鈥檚 health authority in fiscal 2023-24 alone.
The report also provides three examples of health-care transactions that didn鈥檛 go through the government鈥檚 standard procurement process and were either missing from data provided to the auditor鈥檚 office or were not publicly disclosed until the auditor flagged them as missing. They include a five-year $67.5 million contract to Shannex to operate the transitional-care facility in West Bedford, N.S.; a $49.6-million contract with Think Research YourHealthNS and urgent virtual care; and a $24.8-million consulting contract with Ernst & Young.
Adair said single-source contracts can be appropriate during emergencies or exceptional circumstances. 鈥淗owever, the intent behind the procurement policy and legislation is to have transparency, competition and fairness,鈥 she said. 鈥淪o we explain what has been going on and that there seems to have been an increase in recent years of the amount of untendered contracts.鈥
Asked whether provincial governments have become more secretive, she told reporters, 鈥淚t鈥檚 not for me to say definitively if that鈥檚 the case."
Lisa Lachance, the Opposition NDPs finance critic, said transparency around spending outside of the budget remains a big concern.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think the status quo鈥檚 acceptable, we need to take this recommendation to amend the Finance Act really seriously to make sure Nova Scotians know where their money is being spent,鈥 Lachance said.
Liberal finance critic Iain Rankin said the auditor general鈥檚 warnings should be heeded.
鈥淧ublic debt and overspending does have a negative relationship with economic growth 鈥 so we would like to see more focus on actually meeting the budget (estimates) that are tabled in the legislature.鈥
In a statement Tuesday, Finance Minister John Lohr defended the government鈥檚 approach, saying it follows the Finance Act to ensure 鈥渁ccountability and transparency.鈥
鈥淲e follow the same process that every government has followed since 2010,鈥 Lohr said. 鈥淲e share additional appropriations openly with the media and the public four times through the year, so Nova Scotians know how government is spending their taxpayer dollars.鈥澛
This report by 春色直播was first published Feb. 11, 2025.
