$2.7B fails to cut class sizes, and no one knows why
From a multibillion-dollar program to reduce class sizes that hasn’t worked to risky financial investments in the Sturgeon Refinery, the Alberta government is falling short when it comes to oversight, according to auditor general Merwan Saher.
Saher released his latest report Thursday, highlighting a number of ways the government needs to do better.
One of Saher’s most significant grievances was Alberta’s multibillion-dollar class-size reduction initiative. It hasn’t worked for kindergarten to Grade 3 students, he found, but there are no processes in place to figure out why.
“As an Albertan, I’m hugely disappointed,” he said Thursday.
“Albertans, particularly parents, should be disappointed in that they’ve never had a full explanation of whether this investment of their money ... made a difference.”
The program has received $2.7 billion since it began in 2004, including $293 million in the 201718 fiscal year.
But the education department doesn’t have any systems in place to figure out where exactly that cash goes, thanks to a 2008 change in which school boards were no longer required to report how they were using the funding.
Not one question was asked about the initiative during allparty budget estimate committee meetings, he said Thursday — a worrying trend for a $300-million program.
“This is something that has been put into the public arena as a class-size initiative. If (funds) have morphed into base funding, it should be described that way,” he said.
Alberta Teachers’ Association president Greg Jeffery said too many students are falling through the cracks thanks to overcrowded classrooms. He called for extra funding in this year’s budget to hire an additional 2,000 teachers to begin closing the gap.
Saher recommended the education department knuckle down and develop an action plan to monitor results of the class-size initiative.
Education Minister David Eggen said Thursday his government will continue with the program, but will look for greater accountability.
STURGEON REFINERY REPORTING LACKING
Saher also found Albertans aren’t getting the full picture of the significant financial risks — and benefits — associated with the new Sturgeon Refinery.
The project is owned by North West Redwater Partnership and managed by the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission.
The commission agreed to provide a loan to the partnership in 2014 to support the refinery, the cost of which had ballooned to $8.5 billion from $5.7 billion. In exchange, the commission received a 25 per cent voting right in the project.
Saher thinks it’s too early to say whether that was a good deal for Albertans. But since the deal was signed, he wrote in his report, the province has been exposed to more risk without additional benefits.
On Thursday, he said it’s not so much a failure to manage the risks as it is the board and commission saying, “Trust us.”
“But we don’t trust without evidence,” Saher said.
“I’ll be blunt. Albertans are not being fully informed about this very significant endeavour.”
He recommended the commission work with the energy department to figure out the risks, when to report them publicly, and who should report what.
CLIMATE-CHANGE OFFICE OVERSIGHT NEEDED
Saher had no problems with the way the government is implementing Alberta’s climate-change plan, but found the office overseeing that plan needs a better strategy.
Without one, he wrote, “the desired results may not be achieved cost-effectively or at all.”
“It has been well-designed, but, like anything, it can be that much better,” he told reporters Thursday.
Still, Saher commended the government for issuing a progress report on the plan in December. Thursday’s report is the first in a two-part audit of Alberta’s climate leadership plan.
PURE NORTH
The auditor general’s report also highlighted problems with Alberta Health’s 2013 decision to award a $10-million grant to Pure North S’Energy Foundation, which was pushing an alternative wellness program featuring vitamin D supplements.
Saher found department officials advised against funding the program, but eventually agreed a grant could work if it was focused on scientifically evaluating the effectiveness of Pure North’s approach.
However, then-health minister Fred Horne intervened and changed the terms of the grant to concentrate on enrolling more seniors in the program rather than researching it.
This had the effect of removing certain oversight and reporting requirements of the grant, and allowed Pure North to receive all $10 million immediately, Saher’s report said.
“The policies are designed to ensure good processes that will minimize the chance of waste … and for the 2013 grant the department of health failed,” Saher told reporters.
“The minister of the day chose to override the advice he was given.”
The NDP government didn’t renew funding for Pure North’s program when it came to power in 2015, but it did provide a $4.2-million grant to the foundation to operate a nurse practitioner-led clinic.
The province ended that agreement last summer after paying out less than half the money.
Saher found Alberta Health had followed policy, but he noted a concern around managing potential conflicts of interest when awarding grants.