Nova Scotians can once again look forward to reading reports on how the government spends public money. On Monday, premier Tim Houston caved to criticism and reversed course on a bill, specifically the parts of it threatening the independence of the province’s top watchdog, Auditor General Kim Adair.
However, Bill 1, as it’s called, still includes controversial changes to how freedom of information requests can be dismissed, ending fixed election dates and dissolving of Communications Nova Scotia, a group mandated to be objective and non-partisan in keeping the public informed on what the government is up to.
As Houston tells it, he made his decision to partially reverse course on Bill 1 after talking with Adair and her team, who had requested a complete reversal of his proposed amendments to the Auditor General Act, which would have allowed him to fire the AG without cause and put restrictions on her audits.
“And now,” responded Adair, “we look forward to getting back to work,” as the focus returns to reviewing public funding without fearing her reports will be shelved or tampered with.
Next up from Adair’s office is a performance review of how the Department of Advanced Education—currently helmed by minister Brendan Maguire—has allocated, monitored and held universities accountable for their spending of public funds, due March 4.
Nova Scotia is home to 10 universities, which are expected to receive more than $482 million in grants from Maguire’s department for the fiscal year ending March 31, and are estimated to receive more than $465 million next year, according to the province’s 2025-26 budget. That is broken down into $380 million in operating grants, more than $41 million in program-specific grants and just over $28 million in scholarships and bursaries for students. Currently, funding models are determined by the University Accountability and Sustainability Act and one-year bilateral agreements, which expire March 31, between the Department of Advanced Education and each university.
On Tuesday, The Coast requested to speak with Maguire about his support for the upcoming audit of how his department allocates, monitors and ensures accountability and transparency of university funding.
He declined an interview. Instead, a department communications staffer wrote by email that they expect the audit to be released on time, at which point Maguire “would be happy to speak to it,” and that Maguire “supports the scheduled release.”
The staffer confirmed that the department has been meeting with the Office of the Auditor General for months to review recommendations and to support the audit’s work.
This is the standard practice for performance reviews, as determined by The Auditor General Act, which requires the government department in question meets with the AG’s office many times during an audit and allows adequate time for the government to respond to recommendations so that they can be included in the review’s final draft.
The communications staffer with Maguire’s office also wrote that the audit “aligns with government’s intention within amendments under the Act Respecting Advanced Education and Research,” referring to Bill 12 which was announced by Maguire last Wednesday. This is an omnibus bill that would give the minister more authority over how universities are governed; if and how they restructure due to financial woes; and how they align academic and research priorities with funding agreements.
Bill 12 is still in its first reading in the House of Assembly but has already received criticism. The Canadian Association of University Teachers said in a statement Tuesday that the “sweeping new powers” proposed within Bill 12 “would violate university autonomy” and allow the minister “to withhold grants if a university does not satisfactorily show how it is meeting the government’s ‘social and economic priorities.’”
However, Maguire said at the bill’s briefing that he would work with universities and didn’t have plans to dictate what they should or shouldn’t do “with a heavy hand.”
The president of the Saint Mary’s University Faculty Union, Cathy Conrad, connected the dots in an email to The Coast. She wrote that, while the union looks forward to the upcoming audit on university funding “in the spirit of full transparency,” and has “no hint of what will be included,” the union hopes “that government doesn’t weaponize any of the findings to rationalize future university re-organization vis a vis the kind of thing we are seeing with Bill 12,” which she wrote “poses serious concerns for universities across Nova Scotia.”
While details of the upcoming audit remain under wraps until its release, SMUFU isn’t the only group that shared expectations of what it might include.
CAUT executive director David Robinson emailed The Coast that “we expect the Nova Scotia Auditor General to look at what universities are spending on senior administration salaries as well as legal and consultant fees,” and referenced a warning case in Ontario when Laurentian University filed for insolvency in 2021.
This prompted the Ontario Auditor General to review what had happened, and among the auditor’s principle conclusions for Laurentian’s financial downfall were the following:
- “High senior administrator salaries and expenses and inappropriate human resources practices negatively impacted Laurentian’s financial picture.”
- “Despite its other options, Laurentian strategically planned and chose to take steps to file for [commercial] creditor protection” aided by external lawyers and consultants who “significantly influenced” this decision, at a steep cost. “As of Sept 12, 2022, the university had incurred legal and other financial consultant fees associated with its insolvency of more than $30 million.”
The auditor’s office cannot speak to an audit-in-progress before its public release. However, in relation to whether the upcoming audit in Nova Scotia will look into legal and consultant fees used by universities, this was requested by at least one faculty member in Halifax last fall—although a request does not influence how an audit is conducted or what it includes.
The Coast has learned that one faculty member, who was a key member of the bargaining unit for the latest employee contract with their university, requested that the Adair look into what schools spend on lawyers who act as negotiators on behalf of the school, especially during drawn-out rounds of bargaining. The member, who wished to remain anonymous because they were not speaking on behalf of their union at the time, volunteered information to Adair about how an external lawyer was used by their university. The member said Adair’s office never indicated they would look into their concern in this audit, but is hopeful it will.
The Coast asked Students Nova Scotia, the group which represents a collective 20,000 students across the province, about what they’re hoping the audit includes. The non-profit group’s executive director, G Saleski, wrote by email that SNS “welcomes it” and “looks forward to reviewing its findings.” While the group can’t predict what it will include, Saleski wrote “we hope it will highlight trends in government operational funding and the increasing reliance on student tuition and fees as universities’ primary revenue source.
“At a time when post-secondary education and student supports are facing significant cuts across Canada, transparency and accountability in funding are more important than ever. We hope this audit provides a clear picture of the sector’s needs and informs stronger support for students and institutions alike.”
In 2015, then-Auditor General Michael Pickup released a performance review of funding that universities received from the province, based on 2011-2015 figures. Its purpose was to determine whether the Department of Labour and Advanced Education—as it was then known—held “universities appropriately accountable for funding received” and had a process for managing how funds were shared to universities “in a manner that helps achieve fiscal sustainability.” It was one chapter of a larger report of five performance audits, and was just 14 pages. (For comparison, the AG’s report last June on how the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is preventing and addressing violence in public schools was 42 pages.)
In the 2015 review of university funding, the audit team conducted interviews with staff in the Department of Labour and Advanced Education; reviewed policies, meeting minutes and reports; and examined funding agreements before running their own calculations. The audit’s focus was on operating grants to universities, emergency funding and how the goals of the memorandum of understanding between the schools and the province were being achieved—and if they were realistic. Bursaries were not included in the audit’s scope, nor were lawyer and consultant fees.
This article appears in Feb 1-28, 2025.