Financial Review of the Nunavut Planning Commission
Date: February 2018
PDF Version (145 Kb, 7 Pages)
Table of contents
Background
- Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) contracted Ernst and Young to perform a follow-up to the previous financial review of the Nunavut Planning Commission (NPC).
- The follow-up included:
- Reviewing the NPC's conflict of interest policy, management practices and financial controls for the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 fiscal years.
- Determining whether departmental funding was used in accordance with the funding agreement.
Findings: General
- There was adequate supporting documentation and evidence of approval for the sample items selected.
- There were no instances where the Department's funding was used to cover unsupported or ineligible expenditures.
- NPC has well-established policies and procedures and consistent controls and oversight practices that were clearly documented.
Findings: Management Practices
- Policies and procedures around management practices and financial controls are clearly documented and are deemed adequate for the organization when followed.
- Conflict of Interest Policy:
- Is included in NPC's operations, HR & Administration policies and procedures
- Is communicated to employees and discussed annually
- Does not include specific disclosure forms
Findings: CIRNAC-funded Amounts
- NPC receives Core and Supplemental funding for development of land use.
- Supplemental funding was intended for the development of a Land Use Plan the cost related to nine (9) hearing/consultation sessions.
- At the time of the review, eight (8) sessions had been held and two more were being planned.
- The costs related to the sessions held exceeded the budget by $138,554. The shortfall was covered using the NPC Contribution Agreement funding received from CIRNAC.
Conclusions
- NPC has sufficient policies and procedures in place for an organization of its size to effectively manage the departmental funding it receives.
- Departmental funding was used in accordance with the funding agreement.
- Management practices and financial controls are clearly documented and provide adequate guidance.
- The number of hearings deviated from the plan but the sessions held were consistent in purpose to those planned.
Recommendations
- Long standing contracts should be reviewed periodically and consideration given to re-tendering. The decision should be documented.
- The documentation that needs to be maintained around any RFP process undertaken should be clarified, including the justification as to why an RFP process was not followed.
- Consider formalizing the Conflict of Interest Declaration process and the required frequency of the Declaration.
- Formalize the review and approval of invoices.
- Formalize the required documentation for justifying deviations from written policies.