Nova Scotia’s auditor general is questioning the government’s commitment to implement her office’s recommendations from performance audits done in 2019, 2020 and 2021. In a new report, Kim Adair says the government has implemented just 60 per cent, a score she says is “unsatisfactory.” Adair is particularly critical of the Department of Public Works which has completed just one of seven recommendations made in 2019 on the management of bridge projects. Her report says six recommendations are still outstanding from a 2021 audit on the province’s pre-primary program including ensuring that all background checks for staff be completed as required.
Meanwhile, the auditor general says vulnerable children are at risk of receiving inadequate care because of weak oversight within the province’s youth home and temporary care network.
Kim Adair says the most concerning finding in her new report is the lack of regular contact between children and social workers.
She says almost half of children included in the audit were not getting the recommended number of contact points, and in one case a child was not contacted by a social worker for over three months.
Adair’s report also says some children’s needs are not being met because their care plans are outdated or missing.
R-C-M-P believe alcohol played a role in the deaths of two men whose boat sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre. Police say a search operation was launched Monday after a four-metre vessel went down with four people on board. When they arrived on scene, police discovered that a 46-year-old Granville Centre man and a 27-year-old Weymouth man had safely made it to shore. A short time later, a 49-year-old Granville Centre man was found by a search boat and taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. The body of a 26-year-old Granville Centre man was recovered around midnight.
A former fire chief says Nova Scotia’s plan to create a volunteer corps of civilians to provide help during major emergencies might be moving too fast. Fire Service Association of Nova Scotia director Terry Canning voiced his concerns before a legislative committee on Tuesday. He says it remains unclear how the new body will affect shortages of resources during emergencies. Some volunteer search and rescue organizations have said they weren’t consulted about a new body of volunteers that could drain money and resources from existing volunteer groups.
A traffic note….Route 348 from the Pictou–Guysborough county line northerly for seven kilometres is reduced to one lane for paving until Friday, August 30.
Work is taking place weekdays from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. .
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