AG Kim MacPherson wants oversight changes at Atlantic Lottery Corp.
Auditor General Kim MacPherson said she found the oversight for the Atlantic Lottery Corp. wasn't adequate, and needs to be fixed.
MacPherson, along with Atlantic Canada's three other auditors general, issued a scathing report on ALC raising concerns about poor decisions, lavish spending and instances of self regulations that at times were self serving.
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MacPherson said the problems started at the top and that needs to be corrected to get the Crown corporation back on track.
"We made a series of recommendations around the governance of ALC that needs to be fixed," said MacPherson.
The report covers about two-and-a-half years of ALC's dealings. The last time an audit was done by the auditors general on the Crown corporation was 20 years ago.
The auditors raised concerns about large pay raises for two executive positions that came without the knowledge of the four provincial governments who own ALC.
The report also cited substantial travel and hospitality expenses that were paid without receipts, and extravagant Christmas parties and other perks that were found to be "not appropriate."
MacPherson said that type of spending would be common in a commercial company, but not in a Crown corporation.
"It's an agent of the Crown. It is responsible, accountable, and must be transparent to the public, so it's definitely not the right culture," said MacPherson.
"If the governance is fixed, I think these other issues you point out in terms of the practices and policies about inappropriate spending, whether it's concert tickets, Christmas parties, large increases in executive compensation, all of those findings I think will get addressed."
Board problems
MacPherson said the makeup of the ALC board is flawed. It is made up of eight members, with two from each Atlantic province. Those members are appointed by the provincial governments.
But MacPherson said the board includes four government officials and's too hard for a government to wear both those hats.
"For example the deputy minister of finance, by virtue of that position is typically on the board of ALC. And we pointed out that should not be the case," said MacPherson.
"They need to be the eyes and ears for government. They need to express the concerns the government might have when the board of ALC is making a decision, but they should not be voting members."
MacPherson said it's now up to ALC to implement the recommendations made and the four provinces must make sure the Crown corporation takes action.
