Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil is questioning what the province’s auditor general should be examining after an audit was released on the performance of the Nova Scotia Health Authority and Department of Health.
Following Thursday’s cabinet meeting, McNeil told reporters public policy is the position of those who are elected.
“Do you think the auditor needed to tell me we have a shortage of family doctors?” McNeil asked. “Do you think the issue hasn’t been raised by Nova Scotians?”
“What the auditor general, in my view, responsibility is to ensure that taxpayers' dollars are being spent appropriately. Nova Scotians pass judgment on how I communicate with them."
In Auditor General Michael Pickup’s report, he said government has generally done a poor job of telling the public about its plans for primary care, despite growing concern over a lack of access to doctors.
He also said the department and health authority often get bogged down in discussions that can hinder efforts on such things as doctor recruitment.
“The public policy position is being judged on by every Nova Scotian. It’s called a general election,” McNeil said.
Opposition Leader Jamie Baillie said “it’s not the premier’s place” to tell the auditor general what to look at.
“The (auditor general) has the power to examine anything we wants,” Baillie said. “He doesn’t report to the premier. He reports to the people of Nova Scotia. He did his job (Wednesday), whether premier McNeil likes it or not.”
NDP Leader Gary Burrill says Pickup’s report is “entirely in order.”
“The premier said that if the auditor general wishes to speak about public policy he should run for public office. I think this is pompous, high-handed and out of line,” said Burrill.
Pickup is scheduled to meet with the legislature’s public accounts committee next Wednesday to discuss this latest report.
