Auditor’s report hits government where it hurts

It’s not always the one big dramatic issue with which a provincial auditor puts a dent into a government’s credibility. Sometimes, it’s a series of small dings.

The current relationship between Premier Brad Wall’s government and provincial auditor Judy Ferguson has largely been defined by the mess that is the Global Transportation Hub — notwithstanding that her report into the GTH concluded that the purchase of the controversial 204 acres at $103,000 per acre was done “at a significantly higher price and not in a fiscally responsible manner.”

Obviously perturbed at the government’s repeated use of the term “no wrongdoing” that she had included in a second press release the day she put out her GTH report, Ferguson felt it necessary to state last December to a legislative committee the following: “The audit did not conclusively state that there was no evidence of fraud, conflict of interest or wrongdoing with respect to these transactions.”

But it is not just Ferguson’s GTH criticism that should be troubling to the Saskatchewan Party administration. Consider the vast array of fair-minded criticism in Volume 1 of her 2017 report released this week. It comes at a time when virtually every spending decision of the Wall government is under intensified scrutiny as a result of the 2017-18 budget, which increased taxes by nearly a billion dollars and severely cut several government programs.

More to the point, many of Ferguson’s criticisms in her report do call into question the relative success of many policies and programs near and dear to the heart of the Sask. Party government. Consider the list:

Highways: “The ministry spends at least $10 million every year to repair damage caused by overweight vehicles,” Ferguson’s report said. This can be partially attributed to not enforcing weight and dimension laws for large trucks, citing an audit that found the province’s “10 weigh scales were open 10,273 hours instead of the expected 11,700 hours” in 2015-16.

Private MRI scans: While acknowledging that it remains early in the process of the Wall government policy allowing private MRIs if the provider also performs an MRI for someone on the public waiting list, Ferguson noted the waiting list isn’t being reduced. There were 2,600 patients in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region (RQHR) at the end of December, 2016. That was 98 more on the list than nine months earlier at the end of March 2016.

Private special-care homes: More should have been done by the Saskatoon Regional Health Authority to ensure its 20 private special-care homes were following minimum standards for both care and operations.

First Nation graduation rates: While the auditor’s report acknowledged some progress is being made, only 41.8 per cent of First Nation and Metis students are graduating from high school within three years, compared with 84.5 per cent of non-indigenous students. That’s an increase from 35 per cent but nowhere close to the Sask. Party goal of a 65-per-cent graduation rate. In the Living Sky School Division in the North Battleford area, only 32 per cent of indigenous students graduated last year.

Climate change: Saskatchewan still did not have a target for greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reduction as of January.

Suspicious doctor billing: Fifteen physicians are suspected of questionable billing practices, according to the Health Ministry. However, the auditor noted that the review committee is only capable of nine investigations per year. Ferguson also noted that physicians were ordered to repay $1.2 million for inappropriate billing in 2016-17. In 2015-16, 78 doctors billed more than double the average for services. Their combined payment was $64.1 million.

Poor pipeline monitoring: The government still doesn’t have written policies to guide staff on evaluating existing pipelines and has not developed a risk-based assessment approach.

None of these issues carry the drama of the GTH. Many of them are par for the course in the context of the big budget problems before this government. But they do badly cut into the Sask. Party government narrative of accomplishments — especially on issues like First Nation graduation rates or private MRIs the province has emphasized. Combined, these smaller issues in the report hit the government pretty hard.