Auditor general says Nova Scotia government needs to tighten its fraud controls
HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s auditor general says the provincial government needs tighter controls on potential fraud by senior public officials who have access to taxpayers’ money.
Michael Pickup says 88 per cent of public organizations in Nova Scotia have not completed an assessment to determine the risks of fraud.
The report says only 14 of 48 government organizations have a fraud policy and organizations without risk assessments include the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation, school boards, the Izaak Walton Killam Health Centre and the Nova Scotia Health Authority.
The problems ranged from “weak controls” over procurement at the Nova Scotia Health Authority — the agency that oversees most of the province’s health system — to “poor monitoring” of who has access to the financial systems of Housing Nova Scotia and the IWK Health Centre.