Audit's findings show 'mismanagement' at Health P.E.I., say opposition parties

Both of P.E.I.’s opposition party leaders used the same word to describe the findings of an audit into misspending at Health P.E.I. — disappointing. 

The auditor general's 45-page report, released Wednesday, confirmed that rules around job classification were not followed in some cases, and that some managers at the health agency were paid thousands of dollars without appropriate approval.

“My overall impression initially is complete and utter mismanagement at the finest degree,” said Robert Mitchell, the leader of P.E.I.’s Liberal Party.

“We’ve had jobs created and filled [with] no authority, we’ve had paid out overtime with no authority…. It’s very disrespectful to Island taxpayers.”

Green Party Leader Matt MacFarlane said he's also frustrated by the audit's findings. He said this is not the first time the auditor general found an organization to be breaking the rules on P.E.I., and it’s upsetting that this sort of misspending is so common. 

“The auditor general’s office has been quite busy with different reports,” he said. “It’s tiresome. We have policies and procedures in place for a reason, and they need to start being followed.”  

In 2024, Auditor General Darren Noonan released an audit on compensation for Health P.E.I.'s executive leadership team. Those findings also identified issues with contracts and employee classification.

MacFarlane said he is disappointed that P.E.I. Health Minister Mark McLane has failed to take accountability for the misspending at the agency. 

“I think what we're seeing with the way government handles Health P.E.I. is, if it's a good news story for our health-care system government likes to get credit for it, if it's a bad news story for our health-care system government says 'oh, that's what Health P.E.I. is for,'” MacFarlane said. 

“This minister has made it clear that he likes to be involved, hands on, with our health-care system."  

Mitchell, who has held the health portfolio in the past, said his focus at that time was to prevent mismanagement. 

“I worked to arrange some legislation so that a minister would have the authority to get in there and put eyes on all of these kinds of documents,” he said. “Obviously, since that time I think those measures have been relaxed, and here you see the outcome."   

P.E.I.'s Department of Health and Wellness sent a statement to CBC News on McLane's behalf. 

“We appreciate the findings of the auditor general’s report and fully support its recommendations,” it reads.