Alberta’s Auditor General says more must be done to monitor Alberta’s oilsands and long-term senior care programs.
The recommendations were made as part of Merwan Saher’s annual fall audit detailing and reviewing the performance of 150 government entities on Tuesday.
Saher’s office has made 23 new recommendations and repeated three previous recommendations for the province.
“We want to reiterate the message from our July 2014 public report regarding the need for improved results analysis reporting,” writes Saher in the report. “This October 2014 report provides further evidence of that need – seniors care and the joint Canada–Alberta plan for oil sands monitoring.”
In a statement released Tuesday morning, Saher’s office identified the following audits of particular interest:
Seniors care in long-term care facilities: While Saher said long-term care has been improving since the department was last audited in 2005, Wednesday’s report said the momentum must be reinforced.
“We found that Alberta Health Services has insufficient assurance that long-term care facilities are appropriately and consistently allocating publicly funded staff hours to each shift, to deliver daily care that fulfills individual residents’ care plans,” Saher wrote.
“Additionally, the Department of Health needs to improve public reporting on the results achieved for the funds provided.”
Joint Canada-Alberta Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring: After reviewing the first annual report issued by the province and Ottawa, Saher’s audit found clarity and management were lacking.
“The report was not clear on whether the plan was on track; it also contained inaccuracies. The Department of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development’s project management was weak.”
The Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency (AEMARA) took over the province’s commitments under the joint agreement in Apr. 2014. Saher’s report said AEMERA will need to clarify how it will meet its outstanding commitment by March 2015.
Government contracting: The report found that the province’s departments of Health, Municipal Affairs and Executive Council did not follow their stated policies when selecting a contractor, and also failed to properly document the selection process. Sager also found the administration of contracts in each case was substandard.
“There is a lesson here. It is not wrong for anyone, based on their experience, to recommend a contractor in particular circumstances. It is wrong, however, for the party acting on that advice to treat the advice as overriding their obligation to comply with all of their contracting policies before and during the contract that they now have ownership of.”
Saher said his office would be following up with the three departments to learn why they do not follow a common contracting policy.
Confined feeding operations: Following a decade of audits into the Natural Resources Conservation Board’s process for monitoring confined feeding operations, Saher’s report found the NRCB is now in full compliance with groundwater and surface-water regulations. There are about 2,000 confined feeding operations across the province.
Innovation and Advanced Education: Saher’s report card on financial reporting at the Universities of Alberta, Calgary and Lethbridge, along with Athabasca University, showed all four schools are successfully meeting adequate standards. He noted, however, that Athabasca University still has outstanding recommendations to meet.
Outstanding recommendations
Saher said progress is being made on the listing of outstanding recommendations, noting 73 recommendations have been implemented since the last audit in Oct. 2013.
The departments with the highest numbers of outstanding recommendations, in order, are Health, Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, Innovation and Advanced Education, Infrastructure and Treasury Board and Finance.
