Provincial auditor Judy Ferguson takes aim at several government departments and agencies in her report, which was tabled in the legislature on Tuesday.
Child protection, crime reduction, and safe drinking water in the north were areas of concern raised in her report.
Ferguson says compliance on child protection standards is still too low, putting children at risk. She says better monitoring and compliance rates are needed among the 17 First Nations agencies that provide services to children, as well as children who are under the care of social services. She says First Nations compliance rates are at about 50 per cent, but she is encouraged to see a plan is being put in place to improve that.
“This year the ministry has taken a different approach. They have sat down with their staff, they have sat down with the 17 First Nations agencies that provide service in this area, and they have come up with a plan to incrementally increase the compliance rate to 85 per cent over a period of years,” she said.
“This, for us, is very encouraging that they have been able to sit down and do that.”
On crime prevention, Ferguson concludes the justice department does not have an effective process to lead the Building Partnerships to Reduce Crime Strategy. She recommends better direction and support to member agencies.
The provincial auditor also says more work needs to be done to ensure safe drinking water in northern settlements. As of the end of last year, the ministry of environment had implemented half of the recommendations made by the auditor in 2012.